Ida Caroline Gandy, née Hony (1885–1977), was an English social worker and author. She wrote children's books, plays, and books about rural life in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

Life

Ida Hony was born in 1885 in

Bishops Cannings Bishops Cannings is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, England, north-east of Devizes. The parish includes the village of Coate (not to be confused with Coate, Swindon) and the hamlets of Bourton, Horton and Little Ho ...

, Wiltshire, where her father, the Rev. Charles William Hony, was the vicar. Annie Elizabeth Lewin, her "somewhat unconventional" mother, was a writer. Hony moved to London to take up social work, working for the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

. After moving to Peppard in Oxfordshire, she married the local GP, Thomas Gandy, in 1915. The couple had three children: the diplomat Christopher Gandy, the mathematician

Robin Gandy Robin Oliver Gandy (22 September 1919 – 20 November 1995) was a British mathematician and logician. He was a friend, student, and associate of Alan Turing, having been supervised by Turing during his PhD at the University of Cambridge, where ...

and the physician Gillian Gandy. Ida Gandy wrote stage plays for the local amateur drama group, and published her first non-fiction book, ''A Wiltshire Childhood'', in 1930. In 1930 she persuaded her husband to move to

Clunbury Clunbury is a village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England. It is near to the small town of Clun and the villages of Clunton, Purslow and Aston on Clun. In the village is the Norman Church of St Swithin and a Church of England primar ...

in Shropshire. She was active in the local

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

, and 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 opposin ...

was the Billeting Officer for the Clun Valley. On her husband's retirement in 1945 the couple moved to Dorset. He died in 1948, and after his death Gandy returned to Wiltshire, settling in

Aldbourne Aldbourne (pronounced "awld·bawn") is a village and civil parish about north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. ...

. She died in September 1977, and is buried in the churchyard of the Church of St Michael, Aldbourne.

Works

* ''The deer stealers: a village play in three acts''. London:

Village Drama Society The Village Drama Society was founded in 1919 by Mary Kelly in the village of Kelly in Devon, England. Its purpose was to promote the production of plays in villages, develop the arts in country areas, encourage playwrighting and offer the oppo ...

. * ''The gipsy Countess : a play founded on the old folk-song "The wraggle-taggle gipsies"''. Kelly: Village Drama Society, 1924. * ''Snowdrop and the dwarfs: a fairy play''. London: Gowans & Gray, 1925. * ''The fairy fruit: a play for children''. London: Gowans & Gray, 1927. * ''Three bold explorers : a story for children''. London: Jarrolds, 1927. * ''A good shepherd: a one-act play''. London: Joseph Williams, 1927. * ''Lardy cake: a comedy for village players''. London: H. F. W. Deane, 1928. * ''The stranger: a comedy in one act''. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons, 1929. * ''Sunset Island''. London: Oxford University Press, 1929. Illustrated by Frank Adams. * ''A Wiltshire childhood''. London: Allen & Unwin, 1929. * ''When the queen passed by : an outdoor play in three scenes''. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons, 1932. * ''The musical-box : a fantasy in one act''. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons, 1933. * ''He boxed her ears: a farce in rhyme''. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons, 1938. * ''Under the chestnut tree''. London, Country Life Ltd., 1938. Illustrated by

Clifford Webb Clifford Webb RBA 1936, RE 1948 (14 March 1894 – 29 July 1972) was an English artist, illustrator and writer. He specialised in animal drawings. He was apprenticed as a lithographer, but served in the British Army (Wiltshire Regiment) during ...

. * ''Come to the fair: a comedy in one act''. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons, 1939. * ''Round about the little steeple; the story of a downland village and its parson in the seventeenth century''. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1960. * ''Staying with the aunts''. London: Harvill Press, 1963. * ''An idler on the Shropshire borders''. Shrewsbury: Wilding, 1970. * ''The heart of a village : an intimate history of Aldbourne''. Bradford-on-Avon: Moonraker Press, 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandy, Ida 1885 births 1977 deaths English social workers English local historians English children's writers

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...