Figure 1.--

Clare Mallory which was a pen name for Winifred McQuilkan who came from from Invercargill. Her stories about girls' schools were widely read in both New Zealand and Australia during the 1950s and 60s.

Parents

Childhood

Winifred grew up in Invergargill on the southern coast of South Island.

Education

Winifred attended Southland Girls’ High School. Primary schools were mostly coeducational, but before World War II, many New Zealand schools were single gender schools. She went on to attend Otago University in neraby Dunedin and then studied at Oxford University, England.

After returning from England she was appointed headmistress of Columbia College, a private girls' boarding school in Dunedin.

Family

World War II

New Zealand loyally followed Britain and declared war on Germany. For over 2 years the War was n Europe far away from New Zealand. Britain was hard pressed and food had to be rationed. The school organized work parties to send to the British. To help make the work parties more interesting, McQuilkan made up stories that she would tell. They were all set in a girls' boarding school, but a bit more exciting then the every day routein at Columbia College.

The Merry Series

After the War McQuilkan published the school advetures she told the girls as the Merry series. The books were widely read in both New Zealand and Australia. The series was named after one of her chasrachers--Merry. She proved to be the best loved character in the series. Part of the attraction of the series was that it inteligently addressed some of the real concerns that the girls had. One of the issues was that of discipline and the limits of authority. An interesting topic for a headmistress to persue. Presumably because one of her primary effors as headmistress was to instill self discipline in her students. The books are all set in New Zealand, although McQuilkan was reportedly working on an Australian book. The early books were about a boarding school Some of her later books dealt with day schools.

Titles

The books include: Merry Again (1947), Merry Begins (1947), Merry Marches (1947), Pen & Pencil Girls (1948) New House at Winwood (1949), Tony against the Prefects (1949), Juliet Overseas (1949), Leith and Friends (1950), Two Linties (1950), and League of the Smallest (1951),

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Created: 7:16 AM 12/20/2005
Last updated: 7:17 AM 12/20/2005