Josephine Mary Wedderburn Pullein-Thompson
MBE (3 April 1924 – 19 June 2014), sometimes known as Josephine Mann, was a British writer known for her
pony book
Pony books, pony stories or pony fiction form a genre in children's literature of stories featuring children, teenagers, ponies and horses, and the learning of equestrian skills, especially at a pony club or riding school.
Development of genre
Th ...
s. She was a leading member of the
Pony Club
Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide.
Origins
Pony Club began in Great Britain in 1929 when the Institute of the ...
and
PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
. Her mother and two sisters,
Christine
Christine may refer to:
People
* Christine (name), a female given name
Film
* ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei''
* ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name
* ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...
and
Diana also wrote and they created a large number of books and many of them were on the theme of horses.
Life
Pullein-Thompson was born on 3 April 1924 into a notable family. Her father, Harold Pullein-Thompson, had the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC ...
and her mother,
Joanna Cannan
Joanna Maxwell Cannan (27 May 1896 – 22 April 1961) was an English writer of pony books and detective novels, the former aimed mainly at children. She belonged to a family of prolific writers.
Life
Herself the youngest daughter of Charles Can ...
, was a prolific and successful author. She was the second child as she had an elder brother who would adopt his mother's name to be a successful playwright of comedies as
. She also had two younger sisters (who were twins) and all the children would be writers.
The family home was a villa in the suburb of
Wimbledon where her father would have two seats on the centre court. Her father was badly wounded and in frequent pain, he had earned the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC ...
during the war. He had been a teacher before the war but he sold fridges and had a game company.
[ His game company was the first to manufacture the game " Go" under its Chinese name, but it has her mother who made more money writing pony books. The family moved to ]Rotherfield Peppard
Rotherfield Peppard (often referred to simply as Peppard by locals) is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is centred west of Henley-on-Thames, north of Reading, Berkshire and ...
in Oxfordshire where their large house, The Grove, had its own stables. The girls learned to ride and would compete in events.[ In time they would describe their country childhood in their joint autobiography ''Fair Girls and Grey Horses'' (2014). The girls had an unusual education as distinct from their brother who went to ]Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
. She was taught by a "mad woman in a hut" and she was rebellious and stubborn. The girls prided themselves on not conforming to expectations.[
When she was fifteen and her sisters were fourteen they abandoned education and they started a riding school in wartime Britain.] The riding school brought in extra money as the three sisters taught others to ride.
In 1946, she had her first book, ''Six Ponies'', published and the die was cast as she had also helped write ''It Began With Picotee'' which the three sisters created together in 1941, but published also in 1946. The sisters would write dozens of books and Josephine wrote four dozen herself.
Josephine was vice president of the Woodland Hunt Branch of the British Pony Club
Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide.
Origins
Pony Club began in Great Britain in 1929 when the Institute of the ...
.[
She was given the MBE in 1984.][
She was the general secretary (1976–93) and then president of ]PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
.[
She got the Golden PEN Award in 2007 for her services to literature.
]
Private life
For the last twenty years of her life, she was the devoted companion of the lawyer and author Anthony Babington
Anthony Babington (24 October 156120 September 1586) was an English gentleman convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, for which he was hanged, drawn and quartere ...
. He had been so wounded during the war that his girlfriend abandoned him. He had to regain his voice as that part of his brain was damaged. Until he died in 2004 Babington would travel with Josephine to PEN meetings around the world.
Works
*''Six Ponies'' (1946)
*''I Had Two Ponies'' (1947)
*''Plenty of Ponies'' (1949)
*''Pony Club Team'' (1950)
*''The Radney Riding Club'' (1951)
*''Prince Among Ponies'' (1952)
*''One Day Event'' (1954)
*''Show Jumping Secret'' (1955)
*''Patrick's Pony'' (1956)
*''Pony Club Camp'' (1957)
*''The Trick Jumpers'' (1958)
*''All Change'' (1961; later republished as ''The Hidden Horse'')
*''How Horses Are Trained'' (non-fiction, 1961)
*''Ponies In Colour'' (non-fiction) (1962)
*''Learn To Ride Well'' (non-fiction, 1966, later republished as ''How To Ride Well'')
*''Horses and Their Owners'' (non-fiction, 1970)
*''Race Horse Holiday'' (1971, also published as ''Racehorse Holiday'')
*''Proud Riders'' (1973)[
*''Black Ebony'' (1975)
*''Star Riders Of The Moor'' (1974; later republished as ''Star Riders'')
*''Ride Better And Better'' (with her sister, non-fiction, 1977)][
*''Fear Treks The Moor'' (1978)
*''Black Nightshade'' (1978)
*''Ride To The Rescue'' (1979)
*''Ghost Horse On The Moor'' (1980)
*''The No-Good Pony'' (1981)
*''Treasure On The Moor'' (1982)
*''The Prize Pony'' (1982)
*''Black Raven'' (1982)
*''Pony Club Cup'' (1982)
*''Save The Ponies'' (1984)
*''Mystery On The Moor'' (1984)
*''Pony Club Challenge'' (1984)
*''Pony Club Trek'' (1985)
*''Suspicion Stalks The Moor'' (1986)
*''Black Swift'' (1991)
*''A Job With Horses'' (1994)
;Dates Unknown:
*''Youth In The Saddle'' (contributor)
She wrote the adult mystery books ''Gin and Murder'' (1959), ''Murder Strikes Pink'' (1963) and ''They Died In The Spring'' (1960). She also wrote the book ''A Place With Two Faces'' (1972) under the pseudonym of Josephine Mann.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullein-Thompson, Josephine
English children's writers
English women writers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
1924 births
2014 deaths
Presidents of the English Centre of PEN