Norman George Lorimer Hunter (23 November 1899 – 23 February 1995) was a British writer of children's literature. He is particularly known for creating the

Professor Branestawm ''Professor Branestawm'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's books written by the English author Norman Hunter (author), Norman Hunter. Professor Theophilus Branestawm is depicted throughout the books as the archetypal absen ...

book series.

Early life

Hunter was born in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

, England, on 23 November 1899. He attended Beckenham County School for Boys (later known as Beckenham and Penge Grammar School and then

Langley Park School for Boys Langley Park School for Boys is a boys secondary academy school in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, with a co-ed sixth form. On 31 March 2011, the school converted from a Foundation School to an academy and its current status is tha ...

). He left school to volunteer for service in the

London Irish Rifles The London Irish Rifles (LIR) was a reserve infantry regiment and then company of the British Army. The unit's final incarnation was as D (London Irish Rifles) Company, the London Regiment. On 1 April 2022 soldiers in the company transferred to ...

in the

First World War 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 ...

Career

After the war Hunter became an advertising copywriter. In the 1930s he performed as a

stage magician Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. He also wrote popular books on writing for advertising, brain-teasers and conjuring, among many other topics, but his best-known works were about the character

, originally written for radio. The first book, ''The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm'', was published in hardback in 1933 with illustrations by W. Heath Robinson; the second, ''Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt'' in 1937 with drawings by James Arnold.

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film ''B ...

illustrated the reissue of ''Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt'' in 1966, and when Norman Hunter brought out his third book in the series in 1970 after a gap of more than thirty years, Adamson provided the illustrations. Two further Professor Branestawm titles were then published with Adamson's drawings. Other artists were to provide illustrations for later books in the series:

Gerald Rose Gerald Hembdon Seymour Rose (born 1935) is a British illustrator of children's books. He won the 1960 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject, for ''Old ...

; David Hughes;

Jill McDonald Jill Masefield McDonald (30 October 1927 – 2 January 1982) was a New-Zealand-born children's writer and illustrator, working in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. Much of her work was done for Puffin Books, the children's imprint of Pen ...

, and Derek Cousins. Many of the books were reissued in

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

, ''The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm'' under

Eleanor Graham Eleanor Graham (9 January 1896, in Walthamstow, England – 8 March 1984, in London) was a book editor and children's book author. She worked for Muriel Paget's aid mission in Czechoslovakia before becoming an editor for publishers Heinemann an ...

's editorship in 1946, and many others under

Kaye Webb Kathleen ("Kaye") Webb (26 January 1914 – 16 January 1996), was a British editor and publisher. She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award. Early life and education Kathleen Webb was born in Chiswick, London, in 1914, the second of ...

's in the 1960s and 1970s. Hunter returned to London during the

Second World War 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 ...

and lived on a boat on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. In 1949 he went to work in South Africa and stopped writing fiction. After his retirement in 1970, he once again returned to London, where

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

had just produced an eight-part TV series, ''Professor Branestawm''. He continued writing in his retirement and his last book was published in 1983.

Works

(Incomplete): * ''Simplified Conjuring for All: a collection of new tricks needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter'', C. Arthur Pearson (1923) * ''Advertising Through the Press: a guide to press publicity'', Sir I. Pitman & Sons (1925) * ''New and Easy Magic : a further series of novel magical experiments needing no special skill or apparatus for their performance with suitable patter'', C. Arthur Pearson (1925) * ''The Bad Barons of Crashbania: Vol. 42, Continuous Stories, Jolly Books'' (Blackwell, 1932), illustrated by

Eve Garnett Eve Garnett (9 January 1900 – 5 April 1991) was an English writer and illustrator. She is best known for ''The Family from One End Street'', a 1937 children's novel that features a large, small-town, working-class family. Early life Garnett ...

* ''The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm'', John Lane (1933), illustrated by W. Heath Robinson * ''New Conjuring without Skill'', Bodley Head (1935) * ''Professor Branestawm's Treasure Hunt'', John Lane (1937), illustrated by James Arnold; Bodley Head (1966), illustrated by

* ''Larky Legends'' (1938), republished as ''The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories'' (1973) * ''Successful Conjuring for Amateurs'', Pearson (c.1951) * ''The Puffin Book of Magic'' (1968), republished as ''Norman Hunter's Book of Magic'', Bodley Head (1974) * ''The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm'', Bodley Head (1970), illustrated by

* ''The Dribblesome Teapots and Other Incredible Stories'' (1971), illustrated by

Fritz Wegner Fritz Wegner (15 September 1924 – 15 March 2015) was an Austrian-born illustrator, resident in the United Kingdom from 1938. Early life and exile Fritz Wegner was born in Vienna on 15 September 1924 into a family of assimilated Jews. Following ...

* ''Professor Branestawm Up the Pole'', Bodley Head (1972), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm's Dictionary'', Bodley Head (1973), with cover by

* ''The Frantic Phantom and Other Incredible Stories'' (1973), illustrated by Geraldine Spence * ''Wizards Are A Nuisance'', BBC (1973) * ''Professor Branestawm's Great Revolution'', Bodley Head (1974), illustrated by David Hughes; Puffin (1977), illustrated by

* ''The Home-made Dragon and Other Incredible Stories'' (1974), illustrated by

* ''Dust up at the Royal Disco: and Other Stories'' (1975), illustrated by

* ''Long Live Their Majesties'' (1975) * ''Professor Branestawm's Compendium of Donundrums, Riddles, Puzzles, Brain Twiddlers and Dotty Descriptions'', Bodley Head (1975) * ''Professor Branestawm's Do-It-Yourself Handbook'', Bodley Head (1976); Puffin (1979), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm Round the Bend'', Bodley Head (1977), illustrated by Derek Cousins * ''Vanishing Ladies, and Other Magic'', Bodley Head (1978), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm's Perilous Pudding'', Bodley Head (1979), illustrated by Derek Cousins * ''The Best of Branestawm'', Bodley Head (1980), with illustrations by

, Derek Cousins, W. Heath Robinson and

* ''Sneeze and Be Slain and Other Incredible Stories'' (1980) * ''Professor Branestawm and the Wild Letters'', Bodley Head (1981), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm's Pocket Motor Car'', Bodley Head (1981), illustrated by

*'' Professor Branestawm's Mouse War'', Bodley Head (1982), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm's Building Bust-Up'', Bodley Head (1982), illustrated by

* ''Count Bakwerdz on the Carpet and Other Incredible Stories'' (1982), illustrated by

Babette Cole Babette Cole (10 September 1950 – 15 January 2017) was an English children's writer and illustrator. Life and career Cole was born on Jersey in the Channel Islands. She attended the Canterbury College of Art (now the University for the Creat ...

* ''Professor Branestawm's Crunchy Crockery'', Bodley Head (1983), illustrated by

* ''Professor Branestawm's Hair-Raising Idea'', Bodley Head (1983), illustrated by

References

External links

BBC-H2G2

* * (previous page of browse report, under 'Unter, Norman, 1899–' without '1995') {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Norman 1899 births 1995 deaths British children's writers People from Sydenham, London Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War I London Irish Rifles soldiers