PETHERICK, Edward Augustus (1847-1917)

book-collector and bibliographer

son of Peter John Petherick, was born at Burnham, Somerset, England, on 6 March 1847. He went to Australia with his parents in 1852 and was educated at Melbourne. He entered the employment of George Robertson (q.v.), the Melbourne bookseller, in 1862, and in 1870 was sent to London as buyer and English representative. In 1882 he prepared a Catalogue of the York Gate Library, afterwards reissued and extended. A few Years later he went into business for himself as a wholesale bookseller at Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, and also issued a "Colonial Library". The financial disasters of 1893 led to this business being wound up. Petherick had collected a valuable library of books by Australians, or relating to Australasia, including also many documents and charts. In 1909 this collection was given to the Commonwealth government and became the basis of the great collection of Australiana now at the Commonwealth national library at Canberra. Petherick was appointed archivist to the federal parliament in the same year, and held this position until his death at Melbourne on 17 September 1917. He had done much work on a Bibliography of Australasia, but did not live to complete it. Sections of it were published in the Victorian Historical Magazine in 1911 and 1912. He was created C.M.G. in 1916.

The Argus, Melbourne, 18 September 1917; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1917; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.