H. E. Marshall

Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall (usually credited as H. E. Marshall; 9 August 1867 – 19 September 1941) was a British author, particularly well known for her works of popular national history for children. She is best known for her 1905 work "Our Island Story", which was published abroad as ''An Island Story: A Child's History Of England''.

Life

She was born in Bo'ness, Scotland, and her father was John Marshall JP, an earthenware manufacturer.

She was educated at a girls' boarding school called Laurel Bank, in Melrose.

Between 1901 and 1904 she was the superintendent of a hall of residence for female students at the University of Glasgow, but, otherwise, she appears to have made her living throughout her life by writing. She never married.

As is made clear by the Prefaces of her books from time to time, she travelled extensively after 1904, including to Melbourne, California and China, although her obituary in '' The Times'' stated that she spent most of her life in Oxford and in London, where she died.

Our Island Story

H. E. Marshall is famous for the aforementioned 1905 children's history of England, ''Our Island Story'', illustrated by A. S. Forrest. In the USA the book was entitled ''An Island Story: A Child's History of England''. The book was a bestseller, was printed in numerous editions, and for fifty years was the standard and much-loved book by which children learned the history of England. The narrative is a chronological one, containing a large amount of myth and legend, as well as history. In the preface (entitled 'How this book came to be written') Marshall states: 'I must tell you, though, that this is not a history lesson, but a story-book'.

The book went out of print in the 1960s, but in 2005, an alliance of th
Civitas
think-tank and various national newspapers reprinted it, with the aim of sending a free copy to each of the UK's primary schools. Readers of '' The Daily Telegraph'' contributed £25,000 to the cost of the reprint. In 2010, then British Prime Minister David Cameron cited ''Our Island Story'' as his favourite childhood book.

Bibliography

* ''Our Island Story: A History of England for Boys and Girls'' (1905)
* ''Scotland's Story: A History of Scotland for Boys and Girls'' (1906)
* ''Beowulf: Translations'' (1908)
*''Our Empire Story'' (1908)
*''Canada's Story'' from the ''Our Empire Story'' series
*''India's Story'' from the ''Our Empire Story'' series
*''Australasia's Story'' from the ''Our Empire Story'' series
*''South Africa's Story'' from the ''Our Empire Story'' series
*''English Literature for Boys and Girls'' (1909)
*''A History of France'' (1912)
*''Stories of Robin Hood told to the Children'' (1912)
*''A History of Germany'' (1913)
*''This Country of Ours'' (1917) – the American title of the book, which was published in the United Kingdom as ''The Story of the United States'' (1919)
*''Kings and Things'' (1937)
* ''Through Europe and Egypt with Napoleon'' (Unknown)

Copyright status

Her works entered the public domain in Australia on 1 January 1992, after 50 full years from her death, per the Berne Convention on copyright. Her works are also in the public domain in Europe as of January 2012, per European Union copyright law (1993 Term Directive).

References

External links

Works by H.E. Marshall
at the Baldwin Project.
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Works by H.E. Marshall
in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth
1867 births
1941 deaths
People from Bo'ness
Scottish writers
Scottish children's writers
20th-century British writers