Rosemary Wighton

Rosemary Wighton AO
Rosemary Blackburn in 1943
Born	Rosemary Neville Blackburn (1925-01-06)6 January 1925 St Peters, Adelaide, South Australia
Died	7 February 1994(1994-02-07) (aged 69) North Adelaide, South Australia
Pen name	Martha Lemming
Alma mater	University of Adelaide
Notable works	Early Australian Children's Literature (1963) Peeling the Onion: The Story of a Family (1993)
Notable awards	John Howard Clark prize
Relatives	Arthur Seaforth Blackburn (father)

Rosemary Neville Wighton AO (6 January 1925 – 7 February 1994) was an Australian literary editor, author and adviser to the South Australian government on women's affairs.

Rosemary Neville Wighton was born on 6 January 1925, the third child of Arthur Seaforth and Rose Ada (née Kelly) Blackburn. Her father was the first South Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.^[1]

She was educated at the Wilderness School before attending the University of Adelaide, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (honours).^[2]

Following graduation, Wighton tutored in English at the University of Adelaide in 1946. After her marriage, between 1950 and 1958, she tutored part-time.^[2]

Wighton married Dugald Wighton in St Peter's College Chapel on 22 May 1948.^[3]

In 1961, she and Max Harris became founding editors of the Australian Book Review.^[4] From 1971 to 1979, Wighton lectured at the Salisbury College of Advanced Education, specialising in children's literature.^[2]

She was appointed to the Literature Board in 1974^[5] and chaired it from 1984 to 1988.^[2]

In 1979 she wrote the introduction to a facsimile edition of A Mother's Offering to her Children by Charlotte Barton. This book is believed to be the first Australian book for children, originally published in 1841.^[6]

From 1979 to 1984 she was adviser on women's affairs to the South Australian premier.^[2][7] In July 1983 she was appointed member of the Family Law Council by Attorney-General Gareth Evans.^[8]

• Early Australian Children's Literature, Lansdowne, 1963
• Kangaroo Tales: A Collection of Australian Stories for Children, selected by Rosemary Wighton, with illustrations by Donald Friend, Penguin, 1963
• Peeling the Onion: The Story of a Family, self-published, 1993 ISBN 0646144790

At the University of Adelaide she won the Roby Fletcher Prize for Psychology in 1942.^[9] In her final year she received first-class honours in English and won the John Howard Clark prize.^[10]

In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours Wighton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "public service, to literature and to the community".^[11]