Cawthorne and Co

Cawthorne's was a company founded in 1870 in Adelaide, South Australia by Charles Cawthorne and his father, which dealt in musical instruments, sheet music and recordings, and acted as concert promoters.

In 1876, William Anderson Cawthorne and son Charles, as W. A. Cawthorne & Co., were book sellers operating from Morphett Street, Adelaide, and were publishing the Australian Handbook. They moved to Waymouth Street, then by 1877 they had premises at 1–3 Franklin Street, "Cawthorne Chambers", adjacent to the G.P.O., and in March 1882 started carrying sheet music and violin strings. and a year later materials for amateur dramatics.

In 1884 they opened in the new Y.M.C.A. building at Gawler Place, and by 1885 Cawthorne & Co. was acting as a booking agent for concerts. They retained the Franklin Street shop as a branch office until the Cyclorama Building (later West's picture theatre, 91 Hindley Street) opened, and the second shop moved there.

Later the Gawler place premises were enlarged considerably and the Hindley street business closed.

In 1911 Cawthorne's moved to 17 Rundle street and in 1924 those premises were demolished, and an up-to-date music warehouse was built. Around this time, three of Charles's four sons – Gus, Cyril and Frank – became involved in the company.

In 1924 a new company "Cawthorne's Limited" was formed, with £20,000 capital, to take over the business and assets of Cawthorne & Co. Its first directors were Charles Witto-witto Cawthorne, Augustus Eckersley Cawthorne, Cyril Cawthorne, Frank Roy Cawthorne and William Miller.

W. A. Cawthorne (25 September 1825 – 25 September 1897) arrived in South Australia with his mother on the Amelia in 1841. His father, Captain William Cook Cawthorne, was from 1851 to 1861 the (first) Head Keeper of the "Sturt" lighthouse on Cape Willoughby. By 1851 W. A. Cawthorne had with his mother founded a school on Morphett Street, which moved to Pulteney Street in 1852 (in which year he was elected to the Education Board) then Victoria Square west in 1856.

He was interested in aboriginal culture and made useful observations of Kaurna language and customs. That this was a continuing interest is reflected in the middle names he gave (some if not all of) his children. He was the author of The Islanders (1854), an early history of settlement on Kangaroo Island; Kupirri; or, the Red Kangaroo (1858), a reader for children; and a biography of Johann Menge (1859).

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