The publishing firm Ward and Lock was founded in London in 1854 by a partnership of Ebenezer Ward and George Lock. In its early years the firm was largely a publisher of economical fiction reprints and some reference works. Following the purchase of Edward Moxon Son and Company in 1871, which brought the rights to much literary material, Ward and Lock became known as a publisher of classic and contemporary literature. The firm published the original work of many of the best-known English writers of the Victorian era. Its publishing lists further expanded and diversified with the purchase of William Tegg and Company in 1881 and the Select Library of Fiction from W. H. Smith in 1885. A branch was opened in New York 1882.
Between 1865 and 1873, when Charles T. Tyler was a partner, the firm was known as Ward, Lock and Tyler. James Bowden became a partner in the late 1870s, and from 1893 the firm was Ward, Lock and Bowden. In 1897 it became Ward, Lock and Company Limited. By that time the Lock family owned all the shares in the company.
A branch of Ward, Lock was established in Melbourne in 1884 by William Steele. Initially in St James Street, the branch moved moved to McKillop Street in 1893. Through Steele, Ward Lock fostered the publication of the work of many new Australian writers. Ethel Turner's Seven Little Australians, published in London and Melbourne by Ward, Lock in 1894, was an instant success, paving the way for the publication of other Turner titles, and the work of other writers for young adults, such as Mary Grant Bruce.
In the early twentieth century, Ward, Lock published less serious literature and concentrated on light fiction by contemporary authors, popular education magazines, and household and travel publications. Its output of 'wholesome, informing books of every kind' (Edward Liveing, Adventure in Publishing: the House of Ward Lock) from the 1920s included a high proportion of juvenile titles, and the firm became known as a prominent publisher of children's literature.
In 1964 the company split into Ward Lock Educational Company Limited, which published school text books and books for teachers, and Ward Lock Limited, which published a general list. Ward Lock Limited was purchased by Cassell in 1989, where it continued as a non-fiction imprint.
