Foreign Language Bookshop was the oldest and largest language bookshop in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

, established in 1938 as a free lending library by William Bernard (WB) Wigston.

Brief history

WB opened the doors to Foreign Language Bookshop in Bourke Street,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1938. The primary aim of the business was to reduce migrant isolation; particularly for European migrants from Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia and Austria, disembarking from ships into Australia. Over time, increasing immigration from many other countries sparked the need to expand into new languages—a trend which continues today. Wigston was subsequently elected to the position of Mayor of the Bourke Street Traders Association.

History of owners (chronology)

William Bernard (WB) Wigston was born and raised in Ashtead Surrey, England, and was an entrepreneur who spent time in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

with his younger brother Nigel, managing mining operations in the late 1920s. He migrated to Australia in the early 30s. A well-to-do gentleman, when Foreign Language Bookshop was started in

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and ...

it started as a library and he mainly spent his time as a share trader, using “library” staff to help keep his share records. WB lived in a Toorak mansion with a live-in maid and his cat. He would not allow married women to work for him but made an exception for Mrs Bess Carmichael who commenced working for him as a single lady and in later years was rostered to cover brief periods for other staff on leave or away ill. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the library was forced to move to the corner of Bourke Street and Elizabeth Street. It was in this site that the library started to become a bookshop. Worried about his failing health in the 1940s, he used to have his chauffeur Herbie follow him around when taking his morning walks as he felt it would be socially inappropriate to pass away on his walk and be left lying on the road. WB died in 1956. WB left money in his will to all staff and willed the business of Foreign Language Bookshop to Mrs Connie Tink who sold it in 1959 to Mrs Felder, who sold it in 1966 to Mrs Leser. In 1971 Mrs Leser sold the business to Mrs Annette Monester. During 1982, Ms Monester moved the business to the top end of Collins Street. FLB is now owned by the Bookery which in turn is owned by the university sector in Australia. Since June 2020 Bookery ceased operating as a bookshop and is now exclusively online.

References

* https://www.caval.edu.au/solutions/language-resources * http://www.bookeryeducation.com.au/edu_history.php

External links

{{coord missing, Victoria (Australia) Independent bookstores of Australia Retail buildings in Victoria (Australia)