Margareta Louise Pitcairn Webber

Margareta Louise Pitcairn Webber (17 September 1891 – 6 May 1983) was a bookseller from Melbourne, Australia, who for nearly 40 years ran a bookstore in McEwan house, called The Bookshop of Margareta Webber. She was a respected business person, and her bookshop was frequented by notable Melbourne figures.

Early life Webber was the daughter of Margaret Pitcairn, née Fairbairn, and Edwin George Webber. As a child, she would write her own stories, and bind them into books. She was educated at a private girls school in Armadale, Victoria, and some of her writings were accepted in publications. She joined an amateur singing troupe, called "the Gipsy Rovers", when she was in her early 20s.

Career Webber started her career in 1918, at Parr's Bookshop, under the tutelage of Edgar A. Parr.

Notable customers of the bookshop were George Bell, Arnold Shore, Vance and Nettie Palmer, Sydney Ure Smith, Mary Grant Bruce, Barry Jones and Manning Clark. Webber sold the business in 1973.

Personal life and death Webber lived with her companion Jean Littlejohn for more than 50 years. Webber and Littlejohn lived for some time in South Yarra, and their house had a substantial wine cellar. They frequently dined at Maxim's.

For several years before her death, Webber resided at a nursing home in Hawthorn. She died on 6 May 1983, aged 91, and a memorial for her life with books was held at the Toorak Uniting Church on 12 May 1983.