Ruth Gervis (13 August 1894 – 26 October 1988) was a British illustrator. Together with her sister

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 ...

she illustrated the 1936 book ''

Ballet Shoes A ballet shoe, or ballet slipper, is a lightweight shoe designed specifically for ballet dancing. It may be made from soft leather, canvas, or satin, and has flexible, thin full or split soles. Traditionally, women wear pink shoes and men wear wh ...

''. Her other book illustrations include '' The Buttercup Farm Family'', '' The Pole Star Family'', '' The Saucy Jane Family'' and '' The Very Big Secret''.

Biography

Gervis was born to

William Streatfeild William Champion Streatfeild (1 September 1865Who was Who 1897–2007: London, A & C Black, 2008 – 15 February 1929) was the Anglican Bishop of Lewes. He was a descendant of the historic Streatfeild family, the father of the novelist Noel ...

and Janet Venn and was the eldest sister of

. Due to asthma she was sent away to live with her grandparents where she was looked after by a nurse. In 1902 when her parents moved to

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...

, she came to visit them. There, she also attended the

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards. Ha ...

and St Leonard's College and Laleham school 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. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

. Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1911 her family relocated again while she herself was hired as a nurse during the war and also helped produce two plays called ''Vingt-en-Un'' and ''When Daydreams End'' with her sister Noel in 1915. After the war Gervis continued teaching and exhibited widely and then took over the studio and pupils of her original teacher, Miss McMunn. She married Shorland Gervis (known as Shor) who a science master at the

Boys' School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

in Sherborne, where they lived together at Nortons, The Avenue. She continued children's art classes at home and also took ladies sketching. Ruth became more widely known as a successful illustrator of children's books such as those by Paula Harris,

Mary Treadgold Mary Treadgold (16 April 1910 – 14 May 2005) was an English author of books for children and adults, a literary editor and a BBC producer. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1941. Life and writing Treadgold was born o ...

Kitty Barne Marion Catherine "Kitty" Barne (17 November 1882 – 3 February 1961) was a British screenwriter and author of children's books, especially on music and musical themes. She won the 1940 Carnegie Medal for British children's books. Biography Ba ...

and the Caravan Family series by Enid Blyton. She seized the chance of illustrating

's book ''

'' in 1936 when Mabel Carey, children's editor for Dent and Sons Publishers, suggested she might be suitable without realising she was in fact Noel's older sister. The book is still in print although Gervis's drawings now appear only in the Puffin paperback; the originals are held by the Centre for the Children's Book. She is also known for her other book illustrations such as '' The Buttercup Farm Family'', '' The Pole Star Family'', '' The Saucy Jane Family'' and '' The Very Big Secret''. In 1931 Gervis became a founder member of Sherborne art club and later its Chairman and President. In 1941 she was asked to teach the art at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

as the art master was ill; he subsequently died and by 1941 she was in charge of the art department where she remained until 1953. She moved to a similar post at Lord Digby's school in 1953 until she retired in 1966. After her husband Shor died in 1968, Gervis became a founder member of the Museum at Sherborne, participating on its Council and taking a supporting role for twenty years. In 1988 when ill health became a problem, she moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to be near her daughter, but died only a few days after moving into St. Luke's nursing home. The museum in Sherborne still holds a variety of examples of her artwork, both in the public gallery and the reserve collection. One box of archive materials for Gervis's work is held by Seven Stories Archive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gervis, Ruth 1894 births 1988 deaths 20th-century English women artists British women illustrators English illustrators