Good Show Clarissa! Radio 4.

[stevezodiac]

Sorry its a day late but I was knackered last night and dozed off on the couch, waking up at 12.30 and throwing my ten o'clock cup of tea down the sink, then brushing my teeth in zombie mode before retiring to the slumber room to seek repose. This was in Monday's Daily Express and may be of interest to fans of Girl's comics. I managed to reduce the page to A4 size so it will scan nicely.

[Phoenix]

In case anybody is unaware of this, the Hilda Richards, who is mentioned as the author of the story Lisa Dillon is reading, was originally a pen name for Frank Richards, the author of the Billy Bunter novels and huge amounts of the content of The Magnet and The Gem, from the very beginning of each. He used the alias when writing about a girls' school. He also penned his post-war novel Bessie Bunter Of Cliff House School under that name. The name Frank Richards was itself just one more pen name of many used by the author Charles Hamilton.

The Jemima of Jemima Gets Them Guessing is Jemima Carstairs, one of a group of children who attend Cliff House. Her principal friends there are Barbara Redfern, Clara Trevlyn, Mabel Lynn and Marjorie Hazeldene. Bessie Bunter is not exactly a friend but is not as objectionable a character as her brother Billy at Greyfriars School.

The story originally appeared in the 1939 School Friend Annual. I don't have that book but it was reprinted in Mary Cadogan's 1989 book Chin Up Chest Out Jemima!, which I do have. The first illustration below is the introductory page to the story, which tells us that the Hilda Richards name was being used here by John Wheway, a common enough occurrence in the twenties and thirties. The second illustration is the cover of Mary's book.

[philcom55]

Yesterday's "A Midnight Revel" was also instructive as I'd never realized that Angela Brazil's surname wasn't pronounced like the country.

It's interesting to note how many men seem to have developed a fondness for this type of schoolgirl fiction over the years - not least Philip Larkin who once penned his own pseudonymous contribution to the genre. A psychiatrist could probably draw all sorts of conclusions about the playing fields of Eton from this fact!

- Phil Rushton

[Phoenix]

Yesterday's "A Midnight Revel" was also instructive as I'd never realized that Angela Brazil's surname wasn't pronounced like the country.

It originally was, Phil. Angela changed it herself. See below the first page of The Schoolgirl Ethic, Gillian Freeman's 1976 biography of the author (copyright Thorpe Writers Limited).

[paw broon]

http://www.friardale.co.uk/Story%20Papers.htm
I heard the radio article about this on R.4.
A number of Hilda Richards stories can be read at the link above. If you don't aleady know of this site, have a rake about, you'll find some excellent stuff,

[felneymike]

Also I'll draw attention to a publisher called "Girls Gone By" who reprint old girl's stories from the 20's and 30's. Bigger Heffers ought to have some of their titles. Where possible they also include information (and sometimes introductions by) on the authors. The colour plates from the original books are also reproduced, but the cloth-and-gilt covers aren't.

[RuthB]

this is most interesting for me, thanks a million!!