Figure 1.-- |
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Richmal Crompton's William Brown is the one of the two most famous schoolboy in
English literature. (The other of course is Jennings, a literary character familiar to the
next generation of English school boys.) William is often referred to as "Just William"
after the title of the first book introducing him to the British public who quickly fell in
love with him. The 11-year old school boy soon came to represent the archetype
British schoolboy, inquiring, adventurous, and constantly wanting to launch another,
usually ill conceived, outdoor adventure. Richmal Crompton Lamburn was born in
1890 at Bury in Lancaster. She died in 1969. She is more commonly known as just
Richmal Crompton. Crompton taught school and was a keen observer of the foibles
of small children. She was able to cleverly and sympathetically interpret the antics of
mischievous boys and the motives behind their seemingly irrational behavior. She
published over 80 titles, but they were not all in the Just William series. She wrote
many romantic novels which she considered more important than the Just William
books--which she considered to be a bit of a dalliance at the time. Her romantic
novels of course are now long forgotten and it is William that has immortalized her
memory. William surely would have regarded these novels as "dreadfully mushy".
While her romantic novels are now generally forgotten, it is Crompton's comedic
genius that we now remember. It is interesting that a lady has crafted these ever so
telling glimpses of boyhood. I suppose that men sometimes forget how they felt as
boys. She must have been an observant school mistress. We thought it was here
that she learned so much about small boys.
A HBC reader explains that she was a teacher but at a girls school. Perhaps this is
where the Violet Elizabeth Bott character came from.
The antics of William were inspired by her younger brother Jack. He appears to
have given her many ideas when she was old enough to remember.
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was born in 1890 at Bury in Lancaster. This is a
county in northwest England. Although Bury was reorganized into "Greater
Manchester" in 1974, it was still in Lancaster in 1890. She is more commonly known
as just Richmal Crompton. She was a natural writer and scholar. In fact a childhood
hobby was writing stories.
One wonders where a teacher at a stogy girls schools get the inspiration to write
all those telling misadventures of a very realistic boy. There were a variety of
fictional boys who may have inspired her. There was an American boy, notably Penrod Schofield, a marvelous creation of
American writer Booth Tarkington. Penrod was a kindred spirit--no matter how
differently they dressed. I do not know, however, to what extent she read
Tarkington's books, but the similarities are notable. Another candidate was a
nephew Thomas Disher. But most likely her ideas came from her lively brother,
Jack. The antics of William appear to have been largely inspired by her younger
brother Jack. He appears to have given her many ideas when she was old enough to
remember. Perhaps ot was these childhood experiences with Jack that allowed her
to cleverly and sympathetically interpret the antics of mischievous boys and the
motives behind their seemingly irrational behavior.
Crompton taught school and was a keen observer of the foibles of small
children. At age 27 she had become a senior classics mistress at a girls school in
Bromley, southeast London. A talented teacher, she was popular with her pupils for
the way she taught Greek and Latin--subjects that without imagination can be
dreadfully dull. The girls called her ‘Lambie’. Crompton was devoted to teaching.
Her writing, however, made it difficult to devote the time to teaching that ot
required. (Only teachers will understand this statement.) Her writing was interfering
with her career and she was undecided in how to resolve this dilemma. Eventually
fate intervened intervened. Crompton contracted poliomyelitis (polio) (1923). She
was left without the use of her right leg. She was lame for the remainder of her life.
Teaching proved too demanding because of her physical limitations. She reluctantly
gave up her her teaching career and began to write full time.
Crompton published over 80 titles, but they were not all in the Just William
series. Both her romance novels and her William books sold. Soon there was a
steady stream of work, with many requests from magazines.
Crompton wrote many romantic novels. Her first book was The Innermost
Room (1923). It was a rather puzzling mixture of perception and the naive, the
heroine being faced with difficult to differentiate love and passion. It sold. She
considered more important than the Just William books. William surely would have
regarded these novels as "dreadfully mushy". While William credentials as a literary
critic may be limited, we would have to agree with him on this assessment. We might
be tempted to use the term "gastly" and believe that William would back us up here.
Crompton at the time, however, was very serious about those romance novels. She
looked at the Just William stories as rather a daliance--after all they were about a
boy.
While writing all those romance novels, Crompton found the time to invent the
wonderfully mischievous, energetic boy called William Brown. Her romantic novels
of course are now long forgotten and it is William that has immortalized her memory.
Her William Brown is the one of the two most famous schoolboy in English
literature. (The other of course is Jennings,
a literary character familiar to the next generation of English school boys.) Her
childhood hobby of writing stories developed as an adult to the stage of being
published in a woman's magazine--The Ladies Home Magazine. (I'm not at
all sure that William would have approved of this.) The first stories were about a
Robert Green--a lovable 8 year old rascal. Robert was the literary forerunner of
William. William is
William himself appeared in the The Ladies Home Magazine only 1
year later. The article was an immediate success. The William sagas gave the
magazine's circulation a healthy boost and the editor prevailed upon Richmal to
continue to write more. William is often referred to as "Just William" after the title of
the first book introducing him to the British public who quickly fell in love with him.
The 11-year old school boy soon came to represent the archetype British schoolboy,
inquiring, adventurous, and constantly wanting to launch another, usually delightfully
ill conceived, outdoor adventure. The Just William books are today seen as as
childrens' books. The first stories were actually published as a study in child
behavior. While her romance novels sold, by 1933 the infectious young lad whom
she had created had generated the sale of more than 0.7 million books. Her
inspiration, brother Jack, now an author himself helped his sister by thinking up new
plots for her. William was to appear in an incredible 400 stories, brought together in
38 books. After the 2nd world war, William began to appear on radio, stage,
movies, and the television. (William would have very much approved of television,
although he would not approved of the limited number of channels available to British
kids.)
A HBC reader makes an interesting observation. "One point that I think is
significant, is that Richmal Crompton was a woman and based William on her
brother. It's an interesting thought that as an outsider she could notice things about
boys, in particular their disregard for tidy dress, that a male writer ,having been a
boy, would take as "natural". That's why mothers so often get irritated with their
boys dress sense and buy them clothes they
don't want to wear." Crompton's biographer also points out that William, one of the
most popular fictional boys was created by a man. Equally interesting is that perhaps
the most appealing girl fictional character in literature is Alice of Wonderland fame
and here the author was a man--Lewis Carol. [Cadogan]
While her romantic novels are now generally forgotten, it is Crompton's
comedic genius that we now remember. It is interesting that a lady has crafted these
ever so telling glimpses of boyhood. I suppose that men sometimes forget how they
felt as boys. She must have been an observant school mistress. We thought it was
here that she learned so much about small boys. A HBC reader explains that she
was a teacher but at a girls school. Perhaps this is where the Violet Elizabeth Bott
character came from.
Richmal in her last years was beset by ill health problems. Even so, she
continued to write into her 78th year, when she was working on her 37th William
book--William the Superman . She left us in 1969, having never being
married. Perhaps this was best. Any son she may had had would have had a rough
time of it. The poor boy would not have had a fighting chance, as mother would
have always been a step ahead of him. Her niece, Richmal Ashbee, helped finish the
last book, William the Superman .
Cadogan, Mary. Richmal Crompton, the Woman behind William.
James, Deryk. '"Just William," Saturday Star (Johannesburg), January 13, 1990.
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