Barbara Euphan Todd
Encyclopedia
Barbara Euphan Todd was a British
writer, most notable for her children's books about the scarecrow
Worzel Gummidge
.
Todd was born in Doncaster
, South Yorkshire
, the only child of Anglican
minister Thomas Todd and Alice Maud Mary (née
Bentham), but was brought up in the rural village of Soberton
in Hampshire
. She was educated at a girls' school in Guildford
in Surrey
. She worked as a VAD
during World War I
, and after her father's retirement lived with her parents in Surrey and began writing. Her early work was published in magazines such as Punch
and The Spectator
.
In the 1920s, she started writing books for children and collaborated with her husband Commander John Graham Bower, RN
(1886–1940), whom she married in 1932. The couple moved to an artistic colony in Blewbury
near Oxford
, where Bower, an officer in the Royal Navy
, wrote fiction and essays under the pseudonym
'Klaxon'. As Barbara Euphan, in 1935 Todd wrote South Country Secrets and The Touchstone with her husband. In 1946, after the death of her husband in World War II
, she wrote her only adult novel
, Miss Ranskill Comes Home
(1946), about a woman who returns to England
after being stranded on a desert island during the war. It was reissued in 2003 by Persephone Books
. Among other works written by Todd were folkstories adapted for radio, plays and stories written in collaboration with other writers, and two volumes of poetry, Hither and Thither (1927) and The Seventh Daughter (1935).
In 1936 she wrote what would become her best known-work, Worzel Gummidge
or The Scarecrow of Scatterbrook. The title character is a scarecrow
that comes to life. She would later write nine other books featuring the character.
In the 1950s Denis and Mabel Constanduros
collaborated with Todd on a series of Worzel Gummidge
radio plays for children. In 1967 five Worzel Gummidge stories were narrated by Gordon Rollings
in five episodes of the BBC
children's serial Jackanory
. Todd continued to write novels into the 1970s, but her best work was by then behind her. She died in 1976, just as negotiations were in progress for the television rights to the Worzel Gummidge books.
Her stepdaughter, Mrs. Ursula Betts
(née
Bower), the wife of Frederick Nicholson Betts
, remembered her as "warm and kind" but recalled mainly her "dry- and sometimes wry - sense of humour," the earmark of her Worzel Gummidge books.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer, most notable for her children's books about the scarecrow
Scarecrow
A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge is a British children's fictional character who originally appeared in a series of books by the novelist Barbara Euphan Todd. A walking, talking scarecrow, Gummidge has a set of interchangeable turnip, mangel worzel and swede heads, each of which suit a particular occasion or endow...
.
Todd was born in Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, the only child of Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
minister Thomas Todd and Alice Maud Mary (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Bentham), but was brought up in the rural village of Soberton
Soberton
Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England and is bordered by villages such as Newtown and Droxford. It is listed in the Domesday Book under its original name, 'Sudbertone'/'Sudbertune', and comes under Winchester City Council....
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. She was educated at a girls' school in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. She worked as a VAD
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and after her father's retirement lived with her parents in Surrey and began writing. Her early work was published in magazines such as Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
and The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
.
In the 1920s, she started writing books for children and collaborated with her husband Commander John Graham Bower, RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(1886–1940), whom she married in 1932. The couple moved to an artistic colony in Blewbury
Blewbury
Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs about south of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Prehistory:...
near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, where Bower, an officer in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, wrote fiction and essays under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
'Klaxon'. As Barbara Euphan, in 1935 Todd wrote South Country Secrets and The Touchstone with her husband. In 1946, after the death of her husband in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she wrote her only adult novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Miss Ranskill Comes Home
Miss Ranskill Comes Home
Miss Ranskill Comes Home is a novel by Barbara Euphan Todd. It was first published in 1946, under her married name, Barbara Bower.-Plot introduction:...
(1946), about a woman who returns to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
after being stranded on a desert island during the war. It was reissued in 2003 by Persephone Books
Persephone Books
Persephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
. Among other works written by Todd were folkstories adapted for radio, plays and stories written in collaboration with other writers, and two volumes of poetry, Hither and Thither (1927) and The Seventh Daughter (1935).
In 1936 she wrote what would become her best known-work, Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge is a British children's fictional character who originally appeared in a series of books by the novelist Barbara Euphan Todd. A walking, talking scarecrow, Gummidge has a set of interchangeable turnip, mangel worzel and swede heads, each of which suit a particular occasion or endow...
or The Scarecrow of Scatterbrook. The title character is a scarecrow
Scarecrow
A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
that comes to life. She would later write nine other books featuring the character.
In the 1950s Denis and Mabel Constanduros
Mabel Constanduros
Mabel Constanduros , birth name Mabel Tilling, was an English actress and screenwriter. She achieved fame playing Mrs.Buggins on the radio programme The Buggins Family, which ran from 1928 to 1948. She played Earthy Mangold in the popular Worzel Gummidge radio serial on the BBC Children's Hour...
collaborated with Todd on a series of Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge is a British children's fictional character who originally appeared in a series of books by the novelist Barbara Euphan Todd. A walking, talking scarecrow, Gummidge has a set of interchangeable turnip, mangel worzel and swede heads, each of which suit a particular occasion or endow...
radio plays for children. In 1967 five Worzel Gummidge stories were narrated by Gordon Rollings
Gordon Rollings
Gordon Charles Rollings was a British actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England and started his career in radio in Israel...
in five episodes of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
children's serial Jackanory
Jackanory
Jackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap o' Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 24 March 1996,...
. Todd continued to write novels into the 1970s, but her best work was by then behind her. She died in 1976, just as negotiations were in progress for the television rights to the Worzel Gummidge books.
Her stepdaughter, Mrs. Ursula Betts
Ursula Graham Bower
Ursula Violet Graham Bower MBE , was one of the pioneer anthropologists in the Naga Hills between 1937–1946 and a guerrilla fighter against the Japanese in Burma from 1942-45....
(née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Bower), the wife of Frederick Nicholson Betts
Frederick Nicholson Betts
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Nicholson Betts was a British Indian Army officer and an ornithologist.F. N. Betts was born in Launceston, Cornwall in UK. He studied at Winchester College 1920-24. He went to Ceylon and worked in the tea plantations there and later in the coffee plantations in Coorg...
, remembered her as "warm and kind" but recalled mainly her "dry- and sometimes wry - sense of humour," the earmark of her Worzel Gummidge books.
External links
- Biography at Book Rags
- Barbara Euphan Todd Bibliography
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1164445/Barbara Euphan Todd on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
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