My grandmother wrote for girls' comics in the 1950s-60s. Trying to find her work!

[samuelvictor]

Hi all

I recently found out that my wonderful, much loved and sadly missed grandmother wrote many stories for a British girls' comic weekly, likely in the mid 1950s to early 1960s.

Sadly, she passed away years ago, and I'm only just discovering this information now. Of course I would very much like to find the stories and read them! I'm a writer of both film/tv drama and comic books myself so finding this information out now has really made me curious to find more about her writing.

My father and aunt (her children) are vaguely aware that she did this when they were very young, but details are skant. Annoyingly, she did not seem to be at all sentimental or boastful about the stories, and kept no record or copies of the comics. We don't even know which comic they were for, or whether she used a pen name.

All we know is that they were a series of stories set in a girls' boarding school, with a somewhat upper middleclass "jolly hockey sticks!" kind of style. She wrote them for a fairly significant amount of time, but stopped when the editors/owners made a shift in tone for the comic and asked her to make the stories more romantic, which she wasn't interested in writing.

We believe they were fully text stories, rather than scripts for the illustrated comic strips, of course many British comics of that time period printed both comic stories and written stories in each issue.

Her real name was Enid Jones, though she preferred to be called Penny. She may have used a pen name, especially as the surname Jones is very common, but also apparantly she wanted to keep this work secret as my grandfather, her husband, was a school headmaster and she felt it may bring disrepute if his wife was seen to be working (!). So I'm clutching at straws a bit, but I'm predominantly looking for any writers of "Girls Boarding School" stories from the mid 50s to early 60s, preferably attributed to either an Enid or Penny, but even if not, a long running series of text stories in that genre from the time may be a good starting place, and any "pen name" she chose may have relevance to our family so we could guess it was her.

I know very little about girls' comics of that era, been looking through various different comics websites as well as wikipedia looking for info.

The Amalgamated Press/Fleetway 1950-1963 run of "School Friend" seemed like a good place to start looking, but I've checked through all the archived issues that I can find online (Comic Book+ and a wordpress british comics site - anyone know of any more?) and nothing particularly useful so far - a few stories from the early 50s by "Enid Boyton" but these weren't based in a school and we think they are a little too early anyway. That said, there are quite a few years missing and unarchived, from what I can tell - I can't find any comics from between August 1955 and May 1959, and none from the 1960s, save for the 1962 and 66 annual.

I've looked through all the Hulton "Girl" comic and annuals archived, nothing relevant there.

Of course there are plenty more girl's titles from the era that may fit the bill, its very time consuming downloading and leafing through countless issues. Does anyone have any suggestions as a better way to search or particular titles or places that would be a good place to start? Or recomendations of girls' comics from that era that definitely contained text stories, and covered boarding school style genre?

I know all of this is clutching at straws but it really would mean a lot to me to be able to find out any information about all this. I adored my granny and its nice to find out that we have this in common, frustrating I didn't know about it when she was around to ask about it!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Adam Eterno]

What a great thing to find out! I’ve done a quick search on the GCD and nothing came up.
Are you ok if I share this message in my Facebook comic group, as I have 2400 members, so hopefully someone will have a clue?
There are also a few girls comics Facebook groups that I’m in, which I’d be happy to do the same.

[samuelvictor]

What a great thing to find out! I’ve done a quick search on the GCD and nothing came up.
Are you ok if I share this message in my Facebook comic group, as I have 2400 members, so hopefully someone will have a clue?
There are also a few girls comics Facebook groups that I’m in, which I’d be happy to do the same.

Thanks for the reply Adam!

Absolutely, yes feel free to share anywhere, I think I'll need all the help I can get to track this stuff down! I very much appreciate it!

[Adam Eterno]

Message from comic artist David Roach:

I have a complete listing for Schoolfriend and Girl's Crystal so I'll have a look for you. I don't recall seeing any listings in the payment book for an Enid Jones, though there's a lot for an Enid Boyton as you say. What was her maiden name? These two titles would seem to be the best bets since Thomson didn't have any Girls comics until 58.

[Adam Eterno]

Message from Steve Holland, via a friend, comic archivist and author:
Steve Holland said the following:- ‘HI Simon, I've drawn a blank. I can't see any obvious names in Fleetway's main girls' comics -- the text stories tended to be short runs of stories or serials. Many were credited in the late 1950s, and I know most of the writers (Enid Boyten was a guy called Horace Boyten, for instance). There were text libraries like Schoolgirls' Own Library that ran to 1963, but, again, I think most of the writers are known. Micron did a girls' text library but I don't think it ran for that long.

My knowledge of DC Thomson's girls' titles is minimal, so that might be a good place to look. Bunty, Judy, etc. That, unfortunately, is all I can suggest.’

[Adam Eterno]

Message from Steve Holland, via a friend, comic archivist and author:
Steve Holland said the following:- ‘HI Simon, I've drawn a blank. I can't see any obvious names in Fleetway's main girls' comics -- the text stories tended to be short runs of stories or serials. Many were credited in the late 1950s, and I know most of the writers (Enid Boyten was a guy called Horace Boyten, for instance). There were text libraries like Schoolgirls' Own Library that ran to 1963, but, again, I think most of the writers are known. Micron did a girls' text library but I don't think it ran for that long.

My knowledge of DC Thomson's girls' titles is minimal, so that might be a good place to look. Bunty, Judy, etc. That, unfortunately, is all I can suggest.’

And a further note from Steve:
One thing worth asking: was Jones a maiden name or married name? If married, what was her maiden name?

[samuelvictor]

Message from Steve Holland, via a friend, comic archivist and author:
Steve Holland said the following:- ‘HI Simon, I've drawn a blank. I can't see any obvious names in Fleetway's main girls' comics -- the text stories tended to be short runs of stories or serials. Many were credited in the late 1950s, and I know most of the writers (Enid Boyten was a guy called Horace Boyten, for instance). There were text libraries like Schoolgirls' Own Library that ran to 1963, but, again, I think most of the writers are known. Micron did a girls' text library but I don't think it ran for that long.

My knowledge of DC Thomson's girls' titles is minimal, so that might be a good place to look. Bunty, Judy, etc. That, unfortunately, is all I can suggest.’

And a further note from Steve:
One thing worth asking: was Jones a maiden name or married name? If married, what was her maiden name?

Hi Adam, thank you so much for your work liasing with people about this, very much appreciated! Thank you so much to Steve, Simon and David for the valuable insight! Fascinating stuff.

Jones was her married surname, and maiden name was Morgan. So possibly Enid or Penny as a first name, and Jones or Morgan for a surname... but its also just as likely she chose a completely unrelated pen name to remain anonymous to not draw controversy for the fact she was a wife of a well respected head teacher.

I spoke to my Aunt again about this on the phone just now and she said its very likely there would have been a unrelated pen name but if there are written stories from that time period that fit the bill of "girls boarding school" and were more about friendship / sports / japes between classmates and teachers, (rather than romance) then please let her know the names they were written by as her and my father feel they could likely guess by context if they saw a list of potential pen names, as they would be able to guess why she chose a certain name - perhaps family friends, favourite singers or the like.

She seems fairly certain that the stories would have been published no earlier than 1956 and no later than 1964, and feels mostly likely to be 58-62, due to their living and working arrangements in the period.

She submitted the stories through the post, and recieved payment which was "not bad and very welcome as supplementary to her husband's salary, though not enough to earn a sole living". I don't know if it was common or if there were only specific publishers that solicited written material from 2nd parties via post, rather than being inhouse writers? Perhaps thats a clue. She lived in Upton St Leonards and I'm sure she would have never travelled to Dundee or London to sign contracts or have meetings, it was all remote work. It may have been for a smaller publisher, for example I see that City Magazines ran a girls' comic weekly called "Boyfriend" from 1959-1960, and I'm sure there were many other small titles or minor publishers trying to replicate the success of the big hitters like Bunty, Judy et al, I'm sure I've seen annuals for countless copycat style "single word girl's name" comics from that period in second hand shops over the years - Sally, Sandy, Mindy, Jinty, June etc etc etc!

Perhaps the fact that she stopped writing the stories when they asked that she shifted to a slightly more grown up romantic/boyfriend-angled element for the stories is also a clue, as that may have been when the comic changed hand through a different editor, was sold to a different company, or underwent a refresh to be aimed at slightly older girls - for example chasing the burgeoning new "teen" market of the 60s?

I know I'm really not giving much to go on but I truly appreciate the expert knowledge you and your friends have. I am male and a child of the late 80s and early 90s, so I only really know the common Fleetways and DC Thompson titles of that era, when not many were left and they were all joining together and characters would cross between titles.

Again thank you to everybody for their efforts, I know its a bit of a long shot or a "needle in a haystack" situation but I'd dearly love to find something, if remotely possible.

[Into The Abyss]

Fascinating to hear. Hope you locate material that featured your grandmother's writing. I know being a collector of comic art the detective work needed. Anyway, good luck with your quest.

[samuelvictor]

Fascinating to hear. Hope you locate material that featured your grandmother's writing. I know being a collector of comic art the detective work needed. Anyway, good luck with your quest.

Thank you very much! Yes I'm aware its unlikely to be an easy or quick answer to find! I'm down for the challenge though.

[jim244]

Hi Sam,
Absolutely fascinating.
May I ask how you came to find out?
Obviously any documentation would help to solve this mystery.

[samuelvictor]

Hi Sam,
Absolutely fascinating.
May I ask how you came to find out?
Obviously any documentation would help to solve this mystery.

Hi!

Unfortunately we think there is nothing kept as a record of this work. I don't imagine it would be possible to find her bank statements or the like from that far back through the banks, so it would have to be a case of contacting each individual publishing company to see if they have records of who they sent cheques to all those years ago. I imagine most of these companies no longer have these kinds of records as most of them have changed hands so many times. But I suppose thats a possible avenue I could explore.

I found out completely by accident, really.

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm in the film industry. An AMA about my career recently went viral on the official Star Wars reddit (3.2 million views in 2 days!), which lead to me being asked to write a book about my experiences in the industry over 25+ years, and the changes that I think the studio system needs to go through to modernise and weather the current storms.

The seeds for my career were planted early in life when my "my stay at home mum" became a celebrated writer, writing poetry and short stories, which were often featured on television, radio, magazines, and won several prestigious awards throughout the 80s. It was very eye opening for a young me to see my "normal" mum, with no money, living no-where near London, not knowing anyone famous, just suddenly being able to be on TV and go to award ceremonies etc because she wrote a good story on our aging manual typewriter.

Sadly, mum has recently been very unwell, so I've been spending a lot of time with her. The other day she was saying how amazed she is by all I've achieved and the stuff I have lined up for the near future, and I told her that I'd literally just written a chapter in my book that it was all inspired by seeing her go through that process when I was little, and without that, I'd have never thought it possible for someone like me to to break into the industry in the late 90s as a young teen. And it was then that she just told me out of the blue "Oh well you have that on both sides of your family. You do know that your dad's mum was a successful writer for comic books?". I was stunned, of course I had no idea and this was the first I'd heard of it. So of course I then phoned up my father and aunt to see what they knew about it and if they had copies of the comics.

Its still mindblowing to me that given my career & interest in creative persuits, at no point did anyone think of telling me my grandmother wrote for comics. Sadly, it seems its a part of my her life that she kept quite quiet about, certainly didn't brag, and didn't even keep copies of the comics for a keepsake. Apparantly she was more of a "life is in seasons" person and once something was in the past, she would move on immediately and reinvent her life for the next one, not really caring to remember or celebrate her past. In a way this is admirable, but its frustrating to me, as of course I would love to read these stories and get more of an insight into someone that I loved so, so dearly.

I'm putting together several collections for Amazon/Kindle/Audible of all my mother's work, archived. Its important to me that this stuff lives on and doesn't become lost media. I'd love to do the same for my grandmother's work, if this is somehow possible.

[Adam Eterno]

Hi Sam,
Absolutely fascinating.
May I ask how you came to find out?
Obviously any documentation would help to solve this mystery.

Hi!

Unfortunately we think there is nothing kept as a record of this work. I don't imagine it would be possible to find her bank statements or the like from that far back through the banks, so it would have to be a case of contacting each individual publishing company to see if they have records of who they sent cheques to all those years ago. I imagine most of these companies no longer have these kinds of records as most of them have changed hands so many times. But I suppose thats a possible avenue I could explore.

I found out completely by accident, really.

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm in the film industry. An AMA about my career recently went viral on the official Star Wars reddit (3.2 million views in 2 days!), which lead to me being asked to write a book about my experiences in the industry over 25+ years, and the changes that I think the studio system needs to go through to modernise and weather the current storms.

The seeds for my career were planted early in life when my "my stay at home mum" became a celebrated writer, writing poetry and short stories, which were often featured on television, radio, magazines, and won several prestigious awards throughout the 80s. It was very eye opening for a young me to see my "normal" mum, with no money, living no-where near London, not knowing anyone famous, just suddenly being able to be on TV and go to award ceremonies etc because she wrote a good story on our aging manual typewriter.

Sadly, mum has recently been very unwell, so I've been spending a lot of time with her. The other day she was saying how amazed she is by all I've achieved and the stuff I have lined up for the near future, and I told her that I'd literally just written a chapter in my book that it was all inspired by seeing her go through that process when I was little, and without that, I'd have never thought it possible for someone like me to to break into the industry in the late 90s as a young teen. And it was then that she just told me out of the blue "Oh well you have that on both sides of your family. You do know that your dad's mum was a successful writer for comic books?". I was stunned, of course I had no idea and this was the first I'd heard of it. So of course I then phoned up my father and aunt to see what they knew about it and if they had copies of the comics.

Its still mindblowing to me that given my career & interest in creative persuits, at no point did anyone think of telling me my grandmother wrote for comics. Sadly, it seems its a part of my her life that she kept quite quiet about, certainly didn't brag, and didn't even keep copies of the comics for a keepsake. Apparantly she was more of a "life is in seasons" person and once something was in the past, she would move on immediately and reinvent her life for the next one, not really caring to remember or celebrate her past. In a way this is admirable, but its frustrating to me, as of course I would love to read these stories and get more of an insight into someone that I loved so, so dearly.

I'm putting together several collections for Amazon/Kindle/Audible of all my mother's work, archived. Its important to me that this stuff lives on and doesn't become lost media. I'd love to do the same for my grandmother's work, if this is somehow possible.

As soon as we can find her pen name, the name of the comic, the school, the publisher or even a character, everything else will be easy.

[Adam Eterno]

David Roach has come back with the possibilities of Enid Boynton, G E Fearn (or C E Fearn), E Currie, A Player, A E Dean or possibly K Jones?

[Adam Eterno]

It wasn't Enid Boynton as that was the pen name of Horace Boynton.

[stevezodiac]

Nobody has mentioned Princess comic, but from my memory I cannot remember any girls boarding school stories in them. DC Thomson didn't do text stories in Bunty or Judy did they?