Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- 2. Edward Lamburn and a Classical Education.- 3. William and Mr Brown.- 4. Clara Crompton and her Family in Bury.- 5. William, Mrs Brown and Mothers in Crompton.- 6. Royal Holloway College, the First World War and Women’s Suffrage.- 7. Birth of Auntie and the Story of a Marriage.- 8. Birth of Richmal Crompton and William Brown.- 9. More than Auntie Richmal, the Spinster.- 10. Polio in Summer 1923.- 11. Birth of Violet Elizabeth and Introducing William-Lite Characters.- 12. Growing Up.- 13. On Stage and in Literary London.- 14. Richmal Crompton, the Wanderer.- 15. On the Home Front with William and Richmal.- 16. William, Flawed Hero.- 17. William Becomes a Postwar Hero on TV and Radio.- 18. Richmal Crompton in Her Own Words.- 19. William, At Home and Abroad.- 20. Writers' Homage to Crompton and William.

About the Author

Jane McVeigh is Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Roehampton, UK, where the Richmal Crompton Collection is located.   

Reviews

“Jane McVeigh has written an informative and comprehensive biography to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first two William novels, Just William and More William in 1922, now collector's items worth thousands of dollars. … McVeigh effectively documents the life of one of the best-selling female authors of the 20th century, who, in William Brown, created one of the immortals of children's literature.” (Colin Steele, The Canberra Times, canberratimes.com.au, December 23, 2022)“The books alone were enormously popular, the adaptation of just William for radio, television and film have helped ensure this naughty schoolboy will forever be remembered in post-war British culture. By 1946 the BBC radio plays – many of them written by Crompton herself – were enjoying an audience of nine million.” (Dominic Bliss, Daily Express, express.co.uk, December 16, 2022)“Jane McVeigh’s book celebrates the centenary of the first two William books – Just William and More William, both published in 1922. … The work is attractively produced with many illustrations, and its twenty chapters are extremely well researched with substantial notes and references. What it does, first of all, is to emphasise Richmal’s very rich and full life.” (Dennis Butts, Children’s Books History Society, Newsletter, Issue 133, August, 2022)
“This is a model biography for the way it delivers the facts about the life of its subject and analyses the attraction or magic of the stories for subsequent writers, as well as readers across generations. The best praise of this biography is that it will send many readers back to encounter the thrills of reading once more of William’s misadventures.” (Sarah Curtis, TLS The Times Literary Supplement, July 22, 2022)