10 Facts About Frank Cheshire

Frank Cheshire was born Frank Walter Cheshire on 6 June 1896 in East Melbourne, Victoria.

Frank Cheshire's parents were Thomas James Cheshire, a journalist, and his wife Eliza, formerly Napper, nee Holland.

Frank Cheshire started publishing arithmetic and mathematics texts for schools, beginning with Robert Wilson's Intermediate Certificate Arithmetic.

In 1932 Frank Cheshire opened his first retail bookshop and in 1938 the business moved to larger premises at 338 Little Collins Street, which over the years would become a "cultural landmark".

In 1944 Frank Cheshire published Alan Marshall's These Are My People, "stories [Marshall] collected while travelling with his wife Olive in a horse-drawn caravan through Victoria" and which sold 9,000 copies in the first month.

In 1964 Frank Cheshire sold both his firms to Wilke and Co.

In 1960, in the period when he was president of the Booksellers Association of Victoria, Frank Cheshire condemned Victoria Police for raiding booksellers and seizing copies of Charles Orson Gorham's novel Carlotta McBride.

Frank Cheshire was described in his obituary in The Age as "a gentle man who made up his mind quickly and always kept his word".

Frank Cheshire died on 19 November 1987 at Balwyn, Victoria.

Frank Cheshire was survived by Jean and their three sons, and by two sons of his first marriage.