Gillian Mary Baverstock (born Pollock; 15 July 1931 – 24 June 2007) was a British author, non-fiction writer and memoirist. She was the elder daughter of English
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
and her first husband,
Hugh Pollock. She wrote and spoke to audiences and the media extensively about her mother as well as her own childhood and life.
Early life
Gillian Mary Pollock was born on 15 July 1931, the elder daughter of the children's author Enid Blyton (1897–1968) and her first husband, Major Hugh Pollock (1888–1971), a
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 ...
veteran. On 27 October 1935, her younger sister, Imogen Mary Pollock, was born. When she was 12 and her sister was 8, their parents divorced. Her mother later married the surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters (1892–1967); and her father married the writer
Ida Crowe, with whom he had a daughter,
Rosemary Pollock. After divorce and remarriage, her mother decided that the best thing for Gillian and her sister was not to have contact with their father, of whom they had not seen much during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Enid even changed her daughters' surname to "Darrell Waters". Years later, Gillian tried to contact her father Hugh; but she was never to see him again, although she did establish a relationship with her half-sister
Rosemary Pollock, who also became a writer.
Pollock was educated at
Benenden School, a boarding
independent school for girls in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in South East England, followed by the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
in
Fife in Scotland.
Career
Baverstock worked as a
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
teacher at Moorfield (
Montessori
The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...
) School,
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...
, and wrote and spoke to audiences and the media extensively about her mother as well as her own childhood and life. She was estranged from her younger sister, Imogen, who – in contrast to Gillian – did not remember her childhood or Blyton's qualities as a mother fondly.
Quill Publications, Ltd.
In 1999, Baverstock founded Quill Publications Ltd., with comic writer Tim Quinn, to produce twelve editions of the children's comic book ''Blue Moon''. She wrote a series of stories which were based on popular fairy tales like "
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
" and "
Little Red Riding Hood
"Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...
". The comic is no longer in production.
In 2005, Baverstock defended her mother's book ''
The Mystery That Never Was'' after claims that it contained racist overtones.
Appearances
*The
Edinburgh Book Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...
, "Growing Up with Enid Blyton", 26 August 2006.
*Oxford Literary Festival, "Enid Blyton", 25 March 2007.
Oxford Literary Festival 2007
(Accessed 10 May 2007) A critical response to her appearance is at http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/reviews/feature/1765/Sunday-Times-Oxford-Literary-Fest
Personal life
In 1957, Pollock married Donald Baverstock
Donald Leighton Baverstock (18 January 1924 – 17 March 1995) was a British television producer and executive, born in Cardiff, Wales. He initially worked for BBC Television in their Talks Department, where he was the Editor of the topical mag ...
, 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. ...
...
; they had four children: Glyn (b. 1961, d. 1983, car accident), Sian (b. 1958, d. 2006, heart attack), Sara, and Owain. After her husband's death, she lived in
, England.
At her death from disease on 24 June 2007 in Ilkley, at the age of 75, Baverstock was survived by two of her four children and five grandchildren; Glyndwr, Dominic, Zoe, Alec and Georgina.
*Gillian Baverstock, ''Enid Blyton'', Tell Me About Series, Evans Brothers, 1997
*Gillian Baverstock, ''Memories of Enid Blyton'', Telling Tales Series, Mammoth, 2000