Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''

Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...

'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books.

Life

Richmal Crompton Lamburn was born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundarie ...

, the second child of the Rev. Edward John Sewell Lamburn, a

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

Bury Grammar School (The key that opens sacred doors) , established = , type = Independent day schoolGrammar school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

and his wife Clara (née Crompton). Her brother, John Battersby Crompton Lamburn, also became a writer, remembered under the name John Lambourne for his fantasy novel ''The Kingdom That Was'' (1931) and under the name "John Crompton" for his books on natural history. Richmal Crompton attended St Elphin's Boarding School for the daughters of the clergy, originally based in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. She later moved with the school to a new location in

Darley Dale Darley Dale, also known simply as Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, on the River Derwent and the A6 road. The town forms part ...

, near Matlock,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1904. In order to further her chosen career as a schoolteacher, she won a scholarship to

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London. The village grew from a hamlet in the 19th century, when much of Egham ( ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. Crompton graduated in 1914 with a BA honours degree in

(II class). She took part in the

Women's Suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement. In 1914, she returned to St Elphin's as a Classics mistress and later, at age 27, moved to Bromley High School in southeast London where she began her writing in earnest. Cadogan (1993) shows that she was an excellent and committed teacher at both schools. Having contracted

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

in 1923 she was left without the use of her right leg. She gave up her teaching career and began to write full-time. She never married and had no children; she was an aunt and a great-aunt. Her ''

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

'' stories and her other literature were extremely successful and, three years after she retired from teaching, Crompton was able to afford to have a house (The Glebe) built in

Bromley Common Bromley Common is the area of south-east London, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Bromley town centre and Bickley, west of Southborough and Petts W ...

for herself and her mother, Clara. Crompton died in 1969 at the age of 78, after a heart attack, in Farnborough Hospital. Crompton left the copyright of all her books to her niece, Mrs Richmal C. L. Ashbee of Chelsfield, Kent; along with £57,623.

Work

Crompton's best known books are the ''William'' stories, about a mischievous 11-year-old schoolboy and his band of friends, known as "The Outlaws". Her first published short story featuring William was "Rice Mould Pudding", published in ''Home Magazine'' in 1919. (She had written "The Outlaws" in 1917, but it was not published until later.) In 1922, the first collection, entitled ''Just William'', was published. She wrote 38 other ''William'' books throughout her life. The last, ''William the Lawless'', was published

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

ly in 1970. The William books sold over 12 million copies in the United Kingdom alone. They have been adapted for films, stage-plays, and numerous radio and television series. Illustrations by Thomas Henry contributed to their success. Crompton saw her ''real'' work as writing adult fiction. Starting with ''The Innermost Room'' (1923), she wrote 41 novels for adults and published nine collections of short stories. Their focus was generally village life in the

Home Counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...

. Though these novels have the same inventiveness and lack of sentimentality as the 'William' books, after the Second World War, such literature had an increasingly limited appeal. Even ''William'' was originally created for a grown-up audience, as she saw ''Just William'' as a potboiler (Cadogan, 1993). She was pleased by its success, but seemed frustrated that her other novels and short stories did not receive the same recognition. Her first published story was published in ''

The Girl's Own Paper ''The Girl's Own Paper'' (''G.O.P.'') was a British story paper catering to girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956. Publishing history The first weekly number of ''The Girl's Own Paper'' appeared on 3 January 1880. As with its m ...

'' in 1918, concerning a little boy named Thomas, a forerunner of William who reacts against authority. Crompton tried several times to reformulate William for other audiences. ''Jimmy'' (1949) was aimed at younger children, and ''Enter – Patricia'' (1927) at girls. Crompton wrote two more ''Jimmy'' books, but no more ''Patricia'', and neither was as successful as ''William''. Crompton never disclosed the source of inspiration for the main character William; different opinions exist. Presumably it was the result of mixing observations of children she worked with or knew with her own imagination. According to the actor John Teed, whose family lived next door to Crompton, the model for William was Crompton's nephew Tommy:

As a boy I knew Miss Richmal Crompton Lamburn well. She lived quietly with her mother in Cherry Orchard Road, Bromley Common. My family lived next door. In those days it was a small rural village. Miss Lamburn was a delightful unassuming young woman and I used to play with her young nephew Tommy. He used to get up to all sorts of tricks and he was always presumed to be the inspiration for William by all of us. Having contracted polio she was severely crippled and confined to a wheelchair. Owing to her restricted movements she took her setting from her immediate surroundings which contained many of the features described, such as unspoilt woods and wide streams and Biggin Hill Aerodrome, very active in the Twenties.

Crompton's fiction centres around family and social life, dwelling on the constraints that they place on individuals while also nurturing them. This is best seen in her depiction of children as puzzled onlookers of society's ways. Nevertheless, the children, particularly William and his Outlaws, almost always emerge triumphant. The ''William'' books have been translated into sixteen or seventeen languages (Cadogan, 1993).

List of published works

The publication dates are for the UK.

''Just William'' short story collections

* ''

'', 1922 * '' More William'', 1922 * ''William Again'', 1923 * ''William the Fourth'', 1924 * '' Still William'', 1925 * ''

William The Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

'', 1926 * '' William the Outlaw'', 1927 * '' William in Trouble'', 1927 * '' William the Good'', 1928 * ''

'', 1929 * ''William the Bad'', 1930 * ''William's Happy Days'', 1930 * ''

William's Crowded Hours ''William's Crowded Hours'' is the thirteenth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1931. The stories *''William and the Spy'' *''The Plan That Failed'' *''William and the Young Man'' *''The Outlaws an ...

'', 1931 * ''

William the Pirate ''William the Pirate'' is the fourteenth book in the ''Just William'' series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1932. It contains eleven short-stories, one of which (''Aunt Arabelle in Charge'') features the odious "Anthony Martin" ...

'', 1932 * ''William the Rebel'', 1933 * ''William the Gangster'', 1934 * '' William the Detective'', 1935 * ''

Sweet William Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

'', 1936 * ''William the Showman'', 1937 * '' William the Dictator'', 1938 * '' William and Air Raid Precautions'', 1939 (also published as ''William's Bad Resolution'', 1956) * ''William and the Evacuees'', 1940 (also published as ''William and the Film Star'', 1956) * ''

William Does His Bit ''William Does His Bit'' is the 23rd book of children's short story, short stories in the Just William (book series), Just William series by Richmal Crompton. This book contains 10 stories. It was first published in 1941, and the first publi ...

'', 1941 * ''

William Carries On ''William Carries On'' is the twenty-fourth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her '' Just William'' series of bo ...

'', 1942 * '' William and The Brains Trust'', 1945 * '' Just William's Luck'', 1948 * ''William the Bold'', 1950 * ''William and the Tramp'', 1952 * ''William and the Moon Rocket'', 1954 * ''William and the Artist's Model'', 1956 * ''William and the Space Animal'', 1956 * '' William's Television Show'', 1958 * ''William the Explorer'', 1960 * ''William's Treasure Trove'', 1962 * ''William and the Witch'', 1964 * ''William and the Pop Singers'', 1965 * '' William and the Masked Ranger'', 1966 * ''William the Superman'', 1968 * '' William the Lawless'', 1970

''Just William'' plays

* ''William and the Artist's Model'', 1956 * ''William the Terrible'', BBC Radio Plays volume 1, 2008, published by David Schutte * ''William the Lionheart'', BBC Radio Plays volume 2, 2008, published by David Schutte * ''William the Peacemaker'', BBC Radio Plays volume 3, 2009, published by David Schutte * ''William the Avenger'', BBC Radio Plays volume 4, 2009, published by David Schutte * ''William the Smuggler'', BBC Radio Plays volume 5, 2010, published by David Schutte * ''William's Secret Society'', BBC Radio Plays volume 6, 2010, published by David Schutte

''William''-like books

* ''Enter – Patricia'', 1927 * ''Jimmy'', 1949 * ''Jimmy Again'', 1951 * ''Jimmy the Third'', a compilation of stories from ''Jimmy'' and ''Jimmy Again'', 1965

Others

* ''The Innermost Room'', 1923 * ''The Hidden Light'', 1924 * ''Anne Morrison'', 1925 * ''The Wildings'', 1925 * ''David Wilding'', 1926 * ''The House'', 1926 (also published as ''Dread Dwelling'') * ''Kathleen and I, and, of Course, Veronica'', 1926 (short stories) * ''Millicent Dorrington'', 1927 * ''A Monstrous Regiment'', 1927 (short stories) * ''Leadon Hill'', 1927 * ''The Thorn Bush'', 1928 * ''Roofs Off!'', 1928 * ''The Middle Things'', 1928 (short stories) * ''Felicity Stands By'', 1928 (short stories) * ''Sugar and Spice and Other Stories'', 1928 (short stories) * ''Mist and Other Stories'', 1928 (short stories), republished in May 2015 by Sundial Press as "MIST And Other Ghost Stories" * ''The Four Graces'', 1929 * ''Abbot's End'', 1929 * ''Ladies First'', 1929 (short stories) * ''Blue Flames'', 1930 * ''Naomi Godstone'', 1930 * ''The Silver Birch and Other Stories'', 1931 (short stories) * ''Portrait of a Family'', 1931 * ''The Odyssey of Euphemia Tracy'', 1932 * ''Marriage of Hermione'', 1932 * ''The Holiday'', 1933 * ''Chedsy Place'', 1934 * ''The Old Man's Birthday'', 1934 * ''Quartet'', 1935 * ''Caroline'', 1936 * ''The First Morning'', 1936 (short stories) * ''There Are Four Seasons'', 1937 * ''Journeying Wave'', 1938 * ''Merlin Bay'', 1939 * ''Steffan Green'', 1940 * ''Narcissa'', 1941 * ''Mrs Frensham Describes a Circle'', 1942 * ''Weatherly Parade'', 1944 * ''Westover'', 1946 * ''The Ridleys'', 1947 * ''Family Roundabout'', 1948, republished in 2001 by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. The ...

* ''Frost at Morning'', 1950 * ''Linden Rise'', 1952 * ''The Gypsy's Baby'', 1954 * ''Four in Exile'', 1954 * ''Matty and the Dearingroydes'', 1956 * ''Blind Man's Buff'', 1957 * ''Wiseman's Folly'', 1959 * ''The Inheritor'', 1960 * ‘’The House in the Wood - and other stories’’, 2022

Legacy

Richmal Crompton's archives are held at

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...

, London and at Wat Tyler Country Park,

Pitsea Pitsea is a small town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Basildon, in south Essex, England. It comprises five sub-districts: Eversley, Northlands Park Neighbourhood (previously known as Felmores), Chalvedon, Pitsea Mount and B ...

, where some members of her family lived. A

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in Bromley is named in her honour and contains framed prints and texts from the William series. The novel and TV series '' Good Omens'' by

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...

and

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...

was inspired by Just William, with the premise being the Antichrist in the place of William, and his gang ("The Them") in place of "The Outlaws". The initial working title for the novel was "William the Antichrist". Another of Pratchett's works, the

Johnny Maxwell Johnny Maxwell is a fictional character in a series of three children's books by Terry Pratchett. He is a young boy (twelve in the first book, but a teenager in the later ones) living in the (fictional) typical late-20th-century English town of B ...

series, was also inspired by Just William, Pratchett stating that it was based very loosely on an idea of what Just William would be like in a 1990s setting.

References

Sources and further reading

* * * Jane McVeigh: ''Richmal Crompton, author of Just William : a literary life'', Cham : Springer International Publishing, 2022,
Manchester Authors, Writers and Poets Page
at the Papillon Graphics' Virtual Encyclopaedia of Greater Manchester.

at Just William website.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crompton, Richmal 1890 births 1969 deaths 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London English children's writers English short story writers English women novelists Just William People associated with the University of Roehampton People from the Borough of Basildon People from Bury, Greater Manchester People from Chislehurst People with polio