Bridget Rosamund Williams (born 1948) is a New Zealand publisher and founder of two independent publishing companies: Port Nicholson Press and

Bridget Williams Books Bridget Williams Books is a New Zealand book publisher, established in 1990 by Bridget Williams. Establishment Williams established the company in 1990 when the company she was working for, Allen & Unwin, was sold. She purchased the titles wh ...

Early life and family

Born in 1948, Williams was the daughter of Mary Williams (née Thorpe) and her husband mathematician and public servant

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

. Williams attended

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...

, and, in 1966, moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

to study an arts degree in English literature at the University of Otago, where her father was appointed vice-chancellor the following year.

Career

Williams' publishing career began when she and her husband were living in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England, while her husband, economist Geoff Bertram, studied for a PhD. Williams found work as a research assistant for Professor Helen Gardner, working on editing ''The New Oxford Book of English Verse'', and for Professor

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. He won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction for ''James ...

, a biographer. These connections led on to work as an editor at

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(OUP). When Williams returned to New Zealand in 1976, she continued to work for OUP, collaborating with

W. H. Oliver William Hosking Oliver (14 May 1925 – 16 September 2015), commonly known as W. H. Oliver but also known as Bill Oliver, was an eminent New Zealand historian and a poet. From 1983, Oliver led the development of the ''Dictionary of New Zealand ...

on the ''Oxford History of New Zealand'', the first general history of New Zealand to have been published in over 20 years. In 1981 Williams left OUP to start her own independent company, Port Nicholson Press, which she founded with Roy Parsons and Lindsey Missen. Four years later Williams sold the company to Allen & Unwin (Australia) and became managing director of Allen & Unwin (New Zealand). Two of her major projects while at Allen & Unwin went on to win the

Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

: the multi-volume

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online i ...

; and

Claudia Orange Dame Claudia Josepha Orange (née Bell, born 17 April 1938) is a New Zealand historian best known for her 1987 book ''The Treaty of Waitangi'', which won 'Book of the Year' at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award in 1988. Since 2013 she has ...

's ''The Treaty of Waitangi''. In 1990 she founded

, focusing on non-fiction books on New Zealand history, women's history, Māori history and contemporary topics. The company is recognised for making a significant contribution to the body of New Zealand historical work. Notable publications include ''The Book of New Zealand Women'' and the first general history of Māori, ''Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History''. In 1997, ''The Story of Suzanne Aubert'' won Book of the Year at the

Montana New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

. In 2010, ''Encircled Lands: Te Urewera 1820–1921'' won the NZ Post Book of the Year Award. From 1995 to 1998, Williams published under a joint imprint with Auckland University Press. Williams has also been active in publishing events and organisations. She was a founding member of the Listener Women's Book Festival, and involved in both the Independent Publishers network and the Publishers' Association of New Zealand.

Recognition

In 1982, Williams was awarded a

Winston Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

. In the

1996 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1996 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other co ...

, she was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to book publishing, and in the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours she was made an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to publishing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bridget 1948 births Living people People educated at Wellington Girls' College University of Otago alumni 20th-century New Zealand businesswomen New Zealand publishers (people) 21st-century New Zealand businesswomen