Mabel Ferrett (1917-2011) was a British poet, publisher, literary editor and local historian. She was one of the founders of the long-established Pennine Poets writing group. She established the Fighting Cock Press to publish work by

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

authors.

Personal life

She was born Mabel Frankland in

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2011 Census, the population was ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. She attended Ossett Grammar School and became a teacher. She married in 1947 and thereafter lived in

Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen pa ...

, also in West Yorkshire. Ferrett died in 2011 aged 93.

Career

Ferrett started the Pennine Poets writing group in 1966 in

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

, West Yorkshire. She founded the Fighting Cock Press in 1973. She edited the journal of the Pennine Poets, ''Pennine Platform'', between 1973 and 1976, and ''Orbis'' poetry magazine between 1978 and 1980. Her own poetry won awards including the Julia Cairns award for poetry from the

Society of Women Writers and Journalists Society of Women Writers & Journalists (SWWJ) is a British learned society for professional women writers. The society's aims include the "encouragement of literary achievement, the upholding of professional standards, and social contact with fell ...

. Her poetry was often on historical themes. She also wrote for local magazines and newspapers, including

The Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

. Her historical novel about

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

in the Spen Valley was dramatised on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. Ferrett worked at the

Red House Museum Red House Museum was a historic house museum, built in 1660 and renovated in the Georgian era. It closed to the public at the end of 2016 but remains as a Grade II* listed building in Gomersal, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. History Red Hou ...

Gomersal Gomersal is a town in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, east of Cleckheaton and north of Heckmondwike. It is close to the River Spen and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. History Gomersal was attested ...

and also as a teacher. During the war she taught under challenging conditions at Armley National School in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. She was a founder member of the Spen Valley Historical Society. She was particularly known for her work on the Brontës and their circle.

Bibliography

* ''The Lynx-Eyed Strangers'' (1956) (poetry) * ''The Angry Men'' (1965) (historical novel) * ''The Tall Tower'' (1970) (poetry) * ''The Years of the Right Hand'' (1975) (poetry) * ''Shirley Country'' (1973), republished as ''The Brontës in the Spen Valley'' (1978) (non-fiction) * ''The Humber Bridge: selected poems 1955-1985'' (1986) * ''The Taylors of the Red House'' (1987) * "Shirley by Charlotte Brontë: The Importance of Proper Names," ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'' (1988) * ''A Short History of Hartshead'' (1993) (non-fiction) * ''Scathed Earth: selected poems'' (1996) * ''Imaginary Gates'' (2001) (poetry) * ''After Passchendaele: A Writer’s War'' (2003) (autobiography) * ''Spirit and Emotion'' (2006) (non-fiction)

References

External links

Archive material at University of Manchester Library

Archive material relating to the Pennine Poets and Fighting Cock Press at University of Sheffield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrett, Mabel 1917 births 2011 deaths 20th-century English poets 20th-century British poets 20th-century English novelists British women poets English women novelists Writers from Yorkshire People from Heckmondwike Local historians British book publishers (people) 20th-century English women 20th-century English people