Ernest Whitington (1873 – 13 April 1934) was a journalist in South Australia, who as "Rufus" wrote the popular ''Out among the People'' column in the ''

Register Register or registration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), ...

'' and '' The Advertiser'' when those two newspapers were amalgamated. Born in Adelaide, a member of the influential

Whitington family William Smallpeice Whitington was an early English settler in South Australia, founder of the shipping company Whitington & Co. He emigrated on his own ship ''New Holland'' (Captain P. Bussell), arriving in South Australia in July 1840. That cargo, ...

, Ernest was the eldest son of Peter Whitington, Commissioner for Audit for South Australia, and grandson of William Smallpeice Whitington, a pioneer South Australian pastoralist. Ernest was educated at

Whinham College North Adelaide Grammar School, later Whinham College was a private school operated in North Adelaide, South Australia by John Whinham (3 August 1803 – 13 March 1886) and his family. History John Whinham The founder of the school was born at Sh ...

, and his first job was with the ''Register'' as an office boy, but quickly impressed his fellow workers with his writing ability and personality. He was a member of The Modern Pickwick Club (as was his brother Louis), and had the gift of making lasting friends of interesting people from all walks of life; his range of interests was equally wide – he was especially fond of horses, dogs, birds, and flowers. He was a prize-winning breeder of game birds, pointer dogs, and roses. He loved outdoor sports, was an authority on horse racing, and was an enthusiastic field shooter. He was also recognised as a discerning theatre and art critic; he was one of the first to recognise the genius in

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and H. Septimus Power, among others. He was welcomed as a thoughtful and entertaining reporter at country shows, and was given the responsibility of head of

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

staff; this was in the days when newspaper staff were seconded to Hansard duties. He was promoted to sub-editor then

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

. From the turn of the C century the conservative ''Register'' had been progressively losing subscribers and advertisers to the more egalitarian (and for a time cheaper) ''Advertiser'', and in 1929 in a desperate bid rebranded itself as ''Register News-Pictorial'', changing its focus away from serious reporting. Under the ''nom de plume'' "Rufus", Whitington began his column "Out among the People"; a miscellany of wittily told anecdotes, with liberal helpings of nostalgia and popular history, about all sorts of local identities, famous and obscure, but always engaging, as though these people were all friends, which they probably were. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

was squeezing business, and ''The Advertiser'', long a major shareholder, in February 1931 absorbed the ''Register''. For seven months ''The Advertiser and Register'' was published, incorporating many ''Register'' features, including "Out among the People", then the masthead reverted to ''The Advertiser''. Whitington continued with his column for another three years, though declining health meant his column was occasionally penned by others. His last column was published on the same day as his obituary. "Out among the People" continued as a popular column, written or edited by "Vox" – Maurice Stephen Fisher (1887–1968).

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitington, Ernest Australian journalists 1873 births 1934 deaths