Marion Catherine "Kitty" Barne (17 November 1882 – 3 February 1961) (also known as Kitty Streatfeild) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and author of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, especially on music and musical themes. She won the 1940 Carnegie Medal for British children's books.

Biography

Barne was born in Petersham, Surrey, but was brought up in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, and later studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. On 12 April 1912, in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, she married Eric Streatfeild, thus becoming the cousin-in-law of another popular children's writer

Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE (24 December 1895 – 11 September 1986) was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series (though some books made references to others). Random House, the U.S. ...

. Eric Streatfeild was the first cousin of Noel Streatfeild's father. Barne was a member of the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

, responsible for the reception of children evacuated to Sussex. During the war years, she published six novels, most notably '' Visitors from London'' about evacuees ( J. M. Dent, 1940). For that work she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

. She is possibly best known now for her

pony book A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

s ''Rosina Copper'' and its sequel ''Rosina and Son'', about the true story of an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

polo pony A polo pony is a horse used in the game of polo. They may be of any breed or combination of breeds, though many have a significant amount of Thoroughbred breeding. They are called "ponies", but that is a reference to their agile type rather than ...

mare that was rescued from neglect after being ordered to be killed. They were illustrated by Alfons Purtscher and

Marcia Lane Foster Nellie Marcia Lane Foster later Marcia Jarrett, (1897–1983), was a British artist notable as a printmaker, portrait painter and book illustrator. Biography Foster was born at Seaton in Devon but raised in Manchester before she moved to Londo ...

respectively. Apart from her novels, she wrote some non-fiction books, including a biography of

Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...

(who was her husband's great-grandmother) in 1950, a book about the orchestra, a history of the

Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...

and a book of Camp Fire Songs (1944). She was Commissioner for Music and Drama for the Girl Guides for some years where she was assisted by Mary Chater.

Ruth Gervis Ruth Gervis (13 August 1894 – 26 October 1988) was a British illustrator. Together with her sister Noel Streatfeild she illustrated the 1936 book ''Ballet Shoes''. Her other book illustrations include ''The Buttercup Farm Family'', '' The Pol ...

, the illustrator of a number of her books, said of her: She died on 3 February 1961 after a long illness.

Selected works

*''The Easter Holidays'' aka ''Secret of the Sandhills'' (1935) *''She Shall Have Music'' (1938) *''Family Footlights'' (1939) *'' Visitors from London'' (1940) *''Listening to the Orchestra'' (1941) *''May I Keep Dogs?'' aka ''Bracken, My Dog'' (1941) *''We'll Meet in England'' (1942) *''The Amber Gate'' (1942) *''Three and a Pigeon'' (1944) *''In the Same Boat'' (1945) *''Here Come the Girl Guides'' (1946) *''Musical Honours'' (1947) *''Bracken My Dog'' (1949) *''Dusty's Windmill'' (1949) *''Roly's Dog'' (1950) *''Elizabeth Fry: a story biography'' (1950) *''The Windmill Mystery'' (1950) *''Barbie'' (1952) *''Admiral's Walk'' (1953) *''Music Perhaps'' (1953) *''Rosina Copper'' (1954) *''Tann's Boarders'' (1955) *''Rosina and Son'' (1956)

References

External links

Cheri Lloyd (2006) A Nation at War: The Work of Kitty Barne and Mary Treadgold in Pat Pinsent (ed.) ''Out of the Attic''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barne, Kitty 1882 births 1961 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Carnegie Medal in Literature winners English women children's writers Pony books Writers from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Writers from Somerset Writers from Sussex

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

External links