Gwendoline Courtney (23 September 1911 – March 1996) was an English writer of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

Early life and education

Gwendoline Courtney was born in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in 1911. Her father was an antiques dealer. Courtney and her family moved to

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

when she was a child, and she was a pupil at Oldershaw High School. She had wanted to attend university to read history and classics, but ill-health prevented this.

Career

Courtney's first children's novel, ''Torley Grange'', was published by

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in 1935. She was 24 at this point and working in her father's office. Her last, ''The Wild Lorings, Detectives'', was published by Hutchinson in 1956. She wrote 13 books in all. She did not publish in the last forty years of her life. Courtney worked as a secretary for

Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman Arnold Abraham Goodman, Baron Goodman, CH (21 August 191312 May 1995) was a British lawyer and political advisor. Life Arnold Goodman was born at Hackney, London, son of Jewish parents Joseph Goodman (1879/80–1940), a master draper, and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; she said that she had been the only civilian involved in

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

Personal life

From 1941, Courtney lived in the south of England, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. She lived with her sister for most of her life; at the time of her death in March 1996, aged 85, she was living at

Stour Row Stour Row is a village in north Dorset, England, situated beside Duncliffe Hill southwest of Shaftesbury. It lies within the parish of the neighbouring village of Stour Provost. Stour Row has approximately 150 houses and 300 residents. It has ...

near

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

in Dorset. She had an injury to her ear caused by a bomb blast in the war, which meant that she and her sister moved several times in search of quiet. She was involved in amateur theatricals, in the sport of

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, and with the Cornish Cat Society.

Critical response

Her books were less popular from the 1960s. Sue Sims and Hilary Clare write in ''The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories'' that "Courtney's books are well-written and gently humorous, and we are willing to suspend our disbelief at the sensational goings on at some of her establishments for the sake of the attractive characters she creates". ''A Coronet for Cathie'' (1950) was described by

Mabel Esther Allan Mabel Esther Allan (11 February 1915 – 14 May 1998) was a British author of about 170 children's books. Biography Mabel Esther Allan was born at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire (now Merseyside). She decided to be an author at ...

as having "rather startling similarities" to

Elsie J. Oxenham Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley (25 November 1880 – 9 January 1960), was an English girls' story writer, who took the name Oxenham as her pseudonym when her first book, '' Goblin Island'', was published in 1907. Her Abbey Series of 38 titles are her ...

's ''The Girls of the Hamlet Club'' (1914). Allan asked Courtney about this, and Courtney said that she had not read ''The Girls of the Hamlet Club''. Allan listed the parallels between the novels in two essays included in the collection ''Ragged Robin Began It''. She wrote "I love ''A Coronet for Cathie'' now, in spite of its faults, and there are many ... written in a hurry, or poorly thought out ... It needed a lot more thought and depth". ''At School with the Stanhopes'' (1951) has been described as Courtney's best book, "warm, funny". ''Those Verney Girls'' (originally 1948, republished 1956) was described by the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'' in 1957 as "a rather gentle and leisurely story", whilst ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' said of the same book, "Something happening all the time here, and with local characters thrown in, much of it is amusing". The critic Elizabeth Poynter has written that Courtney's books were likely to have been read by girls more than by boys; Poynter notes both humour and danger in the books.

Books

* ''Torley Grange'' (Nelson, 1935) * ''The Grenville Garrison'' (Nelson, 1940), a Ruritanian novel * ''The Denehurst Secret Service'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, illustrated by Margaret Horder, 1940) * ''Well Done, Denehurst!'' (OUP, illus. Horder, 1941) * ''Sally's Family'' (OUP, 1946, illus. Jennetta Vise) * ''Stepmother'' (OUP, 1948; republished by

Children's Press Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

in 1965 as ''Elizabeth of the Garret Theatre'', illus. TR Freeman); also published as ''Those Verney Girls'' (1956) * ''A Coronet for Cathie'' (Nelson, 1950, illus. Edith Brier; republished by Girls Gone By Publishers in 2003) * ''Long Barrow'' (OUP, 1950, illus. Richard Kennedy; also published as ''The Farm on the Downs''); described as "a modern family book" * ''At School with the Stanhopes'' (Nelson, 1951, illus. Valerie Sweet) * ''The Girls of Friar's Rise'' (Nelson, 1952, illus. Edith Brier) * ''The Chiltons'' (Nelson, 1952) * ''The Wild Lorings at School'' (Hutchinson, 1954) * ''The Wild Lorings, Detectives'' (Hutchinson, 1956) A serial she wrote for the ''

Salisbury Journal The ''Salisbury Journal'' is the local newspaper for the Salisbury area of England. History Founded in 1729, it was revived by William Collins in 1736, who used it to oppose the government of Sir Robert Walpole. Benjamin Collins took over th ...

'' in 1953 was republished as a book by Girls Gone By in 2011.

References

External links

Courtney's archives
at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Gwendoline 1911 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers English women children's writers English women novelists People from Wallasey People from Shaftesbury People from Hampshire (before 1974) Writers from Hampshire Writers from Merseyside