Four owners operated under the name Wakefield Press in the 20th century and early 21st century. Harry Muir (q.v.) established The Wakefield Press in 1942, with the intention of publishing small historical monographs which may otherwise have remained unpublished. Muir was a collector of bookplates, and the press's first publication was A Checklist of Ex-Libris Literature Published in Australia (1942). From the 1940s to the 1960s, the Wakefield Press was an adjunct to Muir's bookshop, Beck's Booksellers.
In the 1980s, the South Australian state government revived the publishing house name, without the 'The', to celebrate the state's sesquicentenary with the publication of a series of histories of the state and state enterprises.
The Adelaide Review bought the name from the South Australian state government and operated Wakefield Press from 1986 to 1988.
Michael Bollen (q.v.) bought the name from the Adelaide Review in 1989 with Stephanie Johnston (q.v.) buying in a year or so later. The twenty-first birthday of this fourth ownership of Wakefield Press was celebrated in 2010.
In 2019, Wakefield Press announced a dedicated young-adult list, beginning with Making Friends with Alice Dyson.
Sources include Stephanie Johnston, Director, Wakefield Press.
