Elisabeth Beresford,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(; 6 August 1926 – 24 December 2010), also known as Liza Beresford, was an English author of children's books, best known for creating

The Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...

. Born into a literary family, she took work as a journalist, but struggled for success until she created the Wombles in the late 1960s. Their recycling theme was noted especially and the Wombles became popular with children across the world. While Beresford wrote many other works, the Wombles remained her best-known.

Early life and career

Beresford was born on 6 August 1926 in Paris. Her father was J. D. Beresford, a successful novelist who also worked as a book reviewer for several papers. Her godparents included

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

, who dedicated poems to her, the poet

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

, and the children's writer

Eleanor Farjeon Eleanor Farjeon (13 February 1881 – 5 June 1965) was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Several of her works had illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also be ...

. Her parents' friends included

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among th ...

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

and

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

. Beresford attended

Brighton and Hove High School Brighton Girls, formerly Brighton and Hove High School, is an independent day school for girls aged 4 to 18 in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. Brighton Girls GDST is ISI rated ‘Excellent’. The school was founded in 1876 ...

. After 18 months' service as a

Wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

, Beresford set out as a

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

specialising in writing speeches. She began training as a journalist and was soon writing radio, film and television columns and working as a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

radio reporter. Beresford married BBC tennis commentator and broadcaster

Max Robertson William Maxwell Robertson (28 August 1915 – 20 November 2009) was a sports commentator, radio and television presenter and author. He is best remembered for his forty years of tennis coverage on BBC Radio. Life and career Robertson was ...

in 1949. They had one son and one daughter. Trips to Australia, South Africa and the West Indies with Robertson led her to write children's books. ''The Television Mystery'' (1957), her first, was among several "conventional adventure stories and thrillers", and two television series: ''Seven Days to Sydney'' and ''Come to the Caribbean''. ''Awkward Magic'' (1964) was the first of several fantasies after the manner of

E. Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist an ...

. Beresford struggled as a children's author and freelance journalist in the 1960s. This changed with her creation of the Wombles.

The Wombles

The name "Wombles" was inspired by her daughter Kate's mispronunciation ("Ma, isn't it great on Wombledon Common?") when Beresford took her children to

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

for a

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

stroll. That same day, Beresford made a list of Womble names. Many characters were based on her family: Great Uncle Bulgaria on her father-in-law, Tobermory on her brother, a skilled inventor, Orinoco on her son, and Madame Cholet on her mother. The Wombles' names came from sources as varied as the town where Beresford's daughter went on a French exchange and the name of the college attended by a nephew. The first Wombles book appeared in 1968, illustrated by Margaret Gordon, whose work on all the early Wombles books defined their distinctive appearance. After a broadcast on ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...

'', the BBC decided to make an animated series. The Wombles' motto, "Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish," and their passion for recycling was far ahead of its time, and inspired children to begin organising "Womble Clearing Up Groups". Thirty-five five-minute films were broadcast on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, accompanied by

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Having achieved substantial ...

's music and the Wombles' theme song, "Wombling Free". Marked by actor

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

's voices and the work of animators

Ivor Wood Ivor Sydney Wood (4 May 1932 – 13 October 2004) was a prolific Anglo-French' animator, director, producer and writer. He was known for his work on children's television series. Born in Leeds to an English father and a French mother, his famil ...

and (later) Barry Leith, the Wombles grew in popularity. Beresford took part in live phone-ins with children in Australia. In South Africa she enchanted a hundred Zulus with Womble stories. Back in England, she made countless public appearances with the Wombles across the country. Within ten years, Beresford had written over 20 Wombles books (translated into more than 40 languages), another 30 television films, and a Wombles stage show, one version of which ran in the West End. The range of Wombles products that appeared included soap, T-shirts, mugs, washing-up cloths and soft toys.

Later life

Beresford and her family moved to

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

in the mid-1970s. She and her husband Max Robertson divorced in 1984. Apart from her Wombles books, Beresford wrote various adventure and mystery books for children, many based on the island of Alderney, where she lived in a 300-year-old cottage in

St Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. She collaborated with Jane Aireton on a children's television series for

Channel Television ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...

, Bertie the Bat in 1990 and

The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

for

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated ...

between 1996 and 1999. Beresford was made a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for her services to children's literature in the

1998 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1998 for the United Kingdom, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis were announced on 30 December 1997, ...

. Beresford died at 10:30 pm on 24 December 2010 in Alderney's Mignot Memorial Hospital. Her son Marcus Robertson reported the cause of her death as heart failure. American actors

Griffin Newman Griffin Newman (born February 19, 1989) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for starring as Arthur Everest in the Amazon Studios television series ''The Tick'', as the voice of Orko in the Netflix animated series '' Masters of the Uni ...

and James Newman are her great-nephews.

References

External links

Elisabeth Beresford: A Lady who changed My Life
is an obituary by Mike Batt.

''(same text, probably, but on Batt's own website)''
Fantastic Fiction: Elisabeth Beresford
contains a list of Beresford's literary works.
The Wombles
is the official Wombles website.
Tidy Bag: The online Wombles museum
is dedicated to Beresford's most well-known creation. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, Elisabeth 1926 births 2010 deaths English children's writers Members of the Order of the British Empire The Wombles People educated at Brighton and Hove High School Women's Royal Naval Service ratings Writers from Paris French emigrants to England Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II