Portrait of Inglis-Jones taken from a painting by Cecil Jameson Elisabeth Inglis-Jones (1900–1994) was a Welsh historical novelist, local historian and biographer. ''Starved Fields'' (1929) was the first of six historical novels she published. She was also noted as a writer of local history and biography. Her novel ''Crumbling Pageant'' reappeared in 2015.

Biography

Born in January 1900 in London, Inglis-Jones was raised in the village of Derry Ormond, now in the county of

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, on the Derry Ormond Estate, which her family had owned since 1783. The house was demolished in 1953. Inglis-Jones moved back to the London area around 1937. In her late 80s, she was living in

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

, Surrey.

Literary career

Inglis-Jones took up writing as a child, joining a literary group called The Scratch Society when she was 12 or 13. She spent almost three years writing her first novel, ''Starved Fields'', which was published in 1929. Her often reprinted ''Peacocks in Paradise'' (1950, republished 1990) tells of Hafod, a historic Welsh mansion, and its first owner Thomas Johnes (1748–1815). Her five other novels were ''Crumbling Pageant'' (1932, republished 2015), ''Pay Thy Pleasure'' (1939), ''The Loving Heart'' (1942), ''Lightly He Journeyed'' (1946), and ''Aunt Albinia'' (1948). Her works on Welsh history included ''The Story of Wales'' (1955), describing houses demolished since 1900. Among her biographies was ''The Great Maria'' (1959), about the writer

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...

, ''The Lord of Burghley'' (1964) on

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598), was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (England), Secretary of State (1550–1553 and ...

and ''Augustus Smith of Scilly'' (1964) on the 19th-century proprietor of the Isles of Scilly. Jane Bowden, reviewing a revival of ''Crumbling Pageant'', praised Inglis-Jones's "undeniable talent for story-telling, characterisation and lifelong passion for Wales", qualifying her as a "great Welsh woman writer".

Selected works

Novels

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Welsh history

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inglis-Jones, Elizabeth 1900 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Welsh historians 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh women writers Welsh historical novelists Writers from London People from Ceredigion Welsh women novelists British women historical novelists Welsh women historians Historians of Wales Local historians of the United Kingdom Welsh biographers British women biographers