In 1976, with extensive experience in the printing industry, Leslie Padman OBE began Boolarong Publications in Bowen Hills as all of the book publishers were in Sydney and Melbourne. He wanted to give Queenslanders the opportunity to have their manuscripts published and printed by Queensland businesses. He started a relationship with Watson Ferguson & Company (est. 1868) to print his publications. Padman started with art books and prints initially, but then closely followed by history and biographies.
In 1985 Padman sold the business to Watson Ferguson and Company. From 1995 to 2026, both Watson Ferguson & Company and Boolarong Press were owned by the Kelly family. Since 2026 both Watson Ferguson & Company and Boolarong Press has been owned by Stephen Marland.
We continue the tradition of both Watson Ferguson and Boolarong with history and biographies, but have now added more genres as seen by our category list.
We are members of the Australian Publishers Association and The Small Press Network.