Bob Burchfield, a great lexicographer, died in England at the age of 81 on 5 July 2004. He was chief editor of Oxford English Dictionaries in the period 1971 to 1984, and therefore was the controlling force behind the four supplements that appeared in the 1970s. These supplements formed the basis of the second edition of OED that appeared in 1989. In retirement he produced a new edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage(1996).
Bob Burchfield was a New Zealander. In a tribute to him, Professor Graeme Kennedy, Director of the New Zealand Dictionary Centre, wrote: 'Bob Burchfield was one of a cohort of remarkable students, including Grahame Johnston, Harry Orsman, Bill Ramson, and George Turner, most of whom studied under Professor Ian Gordon at Victoria University College in the aftermath of World War II, and who subsequently had notable careers as lexicographers in Australia and New Zealand.'
Although they began their careers as kiwis, these lexicographers contributed greatly to the study of Australian English. Grahame Johnston was the editor of the first general Australian dictionary, the Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary in 1976. Bill Ramson published Australian English: An Historical Study of the Vocabulary 1788-1898 in 1966, and was the editor of the Australian National Dictionary(1988). George Turner published The English Language in Australia and New Zealand in 1966, and was editor of the first edition of the Australian Oxford Paperback Dictionary (1987). Burchfield introduced many Australian and New Zealand words into the OED supplements. The study of Australian English owes much to them all.
Frederick Ludowyk
Editor, Ozwords