Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enid Blyton

Born

Enid Blyton 11 August 1897 East Dulwich, London, England

Died

28 November 1968 (aged 71) Hampstead, London, England

Pen name

Mary Pollock

Occupation

Novelist, poet, teacher

Language

English

Nationality

British

Citizenship

British

Alma mater

Ipswich High School

Period

1922–1968

Genres

Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy

Subjects

children's literature

Notable work(s)

The Famous Five, Secret Seven,Noddy

Notable award(s)

Boys' Club of America for The Island of Adventure

Spouse(s)

Hugh Alexander Pollock (1924–42) Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters(1943–67)

Children

Gillian Baverstock Imogen Mary Smallwood

Relative(s)

Carey Blyton, Hanly Blyton

Influences[show]

Signature

www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

Enid Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was a British children's writer also known as Mary Pollock. She is noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups. Her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.[1] One of Blyton's most widely known characters is Noddy, intended for early years readers. However, her main work is the genre of young readers' novels in which children have their own adventures with minimal adult help. Series of this type include the Famous Five (21 novels, 1942–1963, based on four children and their dog), the Five Find-Outers and Dog, (15 novels, 1943–1961, where five children

regularly outwit the local police) as well as The Secret Seven (15 novels, 1949–1963, a society of seven children who solve various mysteries). Her work involves children's adventure stories, and fantasy, sometimes involving magic. Her books were and still are enormously popular throughout the Commonwealth and across most of the globe. Her work has been translated into nearly 90 languages. Blyton's literary output was of an estimated 800 books over roughly 40 years. Chorion Limited of London now owns and handles the intellectual properties and character brands of Blyton'sNoddy and the well known series the Famous Five.

• [edit]Personal

life

Blyton was born on 11 August 1897 at 354 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, England, the eldest child of Thomas Carey Blyton (1870–1920), a salesman of cutlery, and his wife, Theresa Mary Harrison Blyton (1874–1950). There were two younger brothers, Hanly (1899–1983) and Carey (1902– 1976), who were born after the family had moved to the nearby suburb ofBeckenham—in Oakwood Avenue. From 1907 to 1915, Blyton was educated at St. Christopher's School in Beckenham, leaving as head girl. She enjoyed physical activities along with some academic work, but not maths.

Enid Blyton's former house "Old Thatch" near Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England

Blyton was a talented pianist, but gave up her musical studies when she trained as a teacher at Ipswich High School.[2] She taught for five years at Bickley, Surbiton and Chessington, writing in her spare time. Her first book, Child Whispers, a collection of poems, was published in 1922. On 28 August 1924 Blyton married Major Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (1888–1971), editor of the book department in the publishing firm of George Newnes, which published two of her books that year. The couple moved to Bourne End, Buckinghamshire (Peterswood in her books).[3]Eventually they moved to a house in Beaconsfield, named Green Hedges by Blyton's readers following a competition in Sunny Stories. They had two children: Gillian Mary Baverstock (15 July 1931 – 24 June 2007) and Imogen Mary Smallwood (born 27 October 1935). In the mid-1930s Blyton experienced a spiritual crisis, but she decided against converting to Roman Catholicism from the Church of England because she had felt it was "too restricting". Although she rarely attended church services, she saw that her two daughters were baptised into the Anglican faith and went to the local Sunday School. Since her death in 1968 and the publication of her daughter Imogen's autobiography, A Childhood at Green Hedges, Blyton has emerged as an emotionally unstable and often malicious figure. By 1939 her marriage to Pollock was in difficulties, and she began a series of affairs. In 1941 she met Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters, a London surgeon with whom she began a relationship. During her divorce, Blyton blackmailed Major Pollock into taking full blame for the failure of the marriage, knowing that exposure of her adultery would ruin her public image. She promised that if he admitted to charges of infidelity, she would allow him unlimited access to their daughters. However, after the divorce, Pollock was forbidden to contact his daughters, and Blyton ensured he was unable to find work in publishing afterward. He turned to drinking heavily and was forced to petition for bankruptcy.

Most successful works Main article: Enid Blyton bibliography 

The Five Find-Outers (Also known as Enid Blyton's Mystery series)

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The Famous Five series

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The Adventure series

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The Noddy books

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The Secret Seven series

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The Malory Towers series

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The St. Clare's series

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The Wishing-Chair series

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The Magic Faraway Tree series

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The Barney Mystery series

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The Circus series

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The Mistletoe Farm series

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The Naughtiest Girl series

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The Young Adventurers Series

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The Adventurous Four Series

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The Family Series

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The Family Adventure Series

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The Secret Series

The Famous Five The Famous Five are a group of children who have the sort of adventures most kids dream about, in a world where ginger beer flows and ham rolls are a staple diet. Julian, Dick and Anne get together with their cousin George in the first adventure, Five On A Treasure Island. George is actually a girl who wants so desperately to be a boy she crops her hair and struts about doing boy things. She hates it when people call her by her correct name, Georgina. She has a dog called Timmy—oh yes, and an island. Most kids just have a dog, but George's parents own Kirrin Island and let her run around on it as if it were her play-thing. Her parents are known to Julian, Dick and Anne as Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny.

CAREY BLYTON'S FAMILY TREE Thomas Carey Blyton (Snr) 1840 1911

+ |

Mary Ann / Marianne Hanly 1839 1907

| | Thomas T(h)eresa Carey 1896 | Mary Blyton |___ Harrison + (Jnr) | 1874 | 1870 1950 1920 | | | | Alice May Enid Mary | | Blyton Blyton |___ |___ 1879 1897 | 1962 1968 | | Hanly | Harrison 1924 |___ Blyton + | 1899 | 1983 | | Carey Charles | Blyton |___ (Snr) 1902 1976

Florence Maud (Floss) Pullen 1904 1974

| | | | | | | | Yvonne |___ Blyton | 1926 -

2002 | | | |___

Carey Blyton 1932 2002

1961

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Mary Josephine Mills 1936 -

| | | |___ |

Matthew James Blyton 1965 -

| | | |___

Daniel Carey Blyton 1971 -

Thomas Carey Blyton (Snr) moved from Kent to Sheffield sometime during the 1870s. Whilst in Kent he had married Marrianne Hanly (born in County Tyrone, Ireland) and they lived in Deptford where they had their first four children: Bertha Hamilton (, a son, born 1866/7), Sidney Charles (born 1867/8), Thomas Carey (born 1870) and Sybil Marianne (born 1871/2). Their fifth child, Alice May (born 1878) was born in Sheffield, so the move to Sheffield took place between 1871/2 and 1878.

Thomas Carey Snr, Carey's Great-Grandfather.

Marrianne (or Mary Ann), Carey's Great Grandmother.

The 1881 census shows the Blyton family living at 10 Asline Road (near Sheffield United's football ground at Bramall Lane). The family comprises 'head' Thomas Carey, age 41 (implying birth year of 1839 or 1840, depending on whether his birthday occurred before or after Census day), place of birth Swinderby, Lincolnshire - indeed, records in Lincolnshire indicate that a Thomas Carey Blyton was christened on 5th February 1840, his parents names being George and Elizabeth. His occupation at this time is stated as Linen Draper. His wife is identified as Marrianne (sometimes referred to as Mary Ann), age 42 (birth year 1838/9). The five children are identified as Bertha Hamilton (a son, age 14), Sidney Charles (a second son, age 13), Thomas

Carey Jnr (a third son, age 11), Sybil Marianne (a daughter, age 9) and Alice May (a second daughter, age 2). The 'occupation' of all the children (with the exception of Alice May) is given as 'Scholar'. Not all these children are included on the chart above. The 1891 census shows the Blyton family living at 165 Aizlewood Road, a couple of miles south of Sheffield city centre. Thomas Carey Snr is shown age 51, other details as above except that his occupation is stated as Linen Draper's Buyer. Marrianne is included, age 52, plus Thomas Carey Jnr, age 21, unmarried and a Mercantile Clerk, plus Sybil M, age 19 and Alice M, age 12. The two older brothers had presumably moved out of the family home by this time. Alice May Blyton, known as May, was born on 14 April 1878 at Asline Road, Sheffield. The family later moved to 165 Aizlewood Road and finally to Machon Bank where an 1895 Directory includes a listing for a Miss M Blyton as a pianoforte teacher. May subsequently married Charles Needham Crossland, a steelworks representative, and much later they lived at 10 Meadway Drive, Dore (a suburb of SW Sheffield) from the 1940s to her death in 1962. She and her husband had no children. She was still teaching music and was described by a neighbour as friendly and having a whimsical sense of humour. It is known that when (our) Carey Blyton took up piano at the age of 16 she gave him several volumes of music including the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, the complete Chopin mazurkas, etc.

Carey's Great Aunt May

Carey had fond memories of his "great aunt May" including the gift, when he was about 6 or 7, of a small penknife "rather like a Swiss army knife, but very much smaller, with tortoiseshell fascias, and with a large blade, a small blade, a corkscrew, a button hook, a 'spike' and a nail file". He (much) later claimed that this present had been in virtual daily use for about 60 years! Alice May's older brother, Thomas Carey Jnr, was born in Deptford, Kent. In 1896 he married (in Sheffield) Theresa Mary Harrison, a milliner, daughter of a table fork maker, from a large family. They soon returned to London because of Thomas Carey's employment with a cutlery firm. They initially lived in a small flat above a shop in Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, where daughter Enid Mary was born, but quickly moved to Chaffinch Road in Beckenham, Kent where a first son, Hanly Harrison, was born followed by another move to Clockhouse Road where a second son (and final child) Carey was born. Enid would grow up to become the famous children's writer (although her father believed she possessed a similar musical talent to her aunt and hoped she would become a musician) and Hanly would marry and become (our) Carey Blyton's father.

Thomas Carey Jnr, Carey's Grandfather.

Theresa, Carey's Grandmother.

Carey's memories of Theresa (his paternal grandmother) are of someone who spoiled him as a child (she lived within walking distance). She would give him "sugar sandwiches and egg and tomato 'mix' on fried bread, much to my mother's alarm". He also recalls that she wore glasses with one lens frosted, of which he was rather scared. This, coupled with her size ("she was a large woman") made her a bit awesome to him. Thomas Carey Jnr, who was a well read man with many interests (watercolour painting, writing poetry, playing piano, foreign languages, photography - to mention but a few), decided that his future was not to be in cutlery and joined his two older brothers (Bertha Hamilton and Sidney Charles) in the family 'mantle warehousing' business of Fisher and Nephew. Better pay and prospects enabled a move of house (still in Clockhouse Road) to a larger property with a larger garden. Unfortunately, during the early years of the new century, Thomas and Theresa gradually drifted apart until, in 1910, Thomas moved out having taken up with another woman. The children remained with Theresa but the split necessitated a move to a smaller house in Elm Road (still in Beckenham). Thomas subsequently established a successful wholesale clothing business in the City of London and was able to pay private school fees for his children as well as regularly sending money to support his family. He died of a heart attack aged 50, while fishing the Thames. Wife Theresa died in 1950 and was buried with her husband, even though they had lived apart for 40 years. More research is currently being undertaken regarding 'Hanly and Floss', Carey's father and mother, which will be included here in the future.

It seems obvious from the above chart that re-using family names is something of a tradition with the Blytons. Carey's name is present in his father's generation (his uncle), and his grandfather's, and his great grandfather's, and is now passed on in son Daniel's middle name. Many Mary's appear to have married into the family and that name was re-used for both Enid Mary Blyton and by her for both her daughters. Carey's father, Hanly Harrison, appears to have been named for both his grandmother and his mother.