J.P. Martin
Encyclopedia
J. P. Martin (1879–1966) was an English
author best known for his Uncle series of children's stories.
Martin was born in Scarborough in the county
of Yorkshire
in summer 1879 and became a Methodist minister in 1902 before serving as a missionary
in South Africa
and as an army chaplain in Palestine
during the First World War
. After the Second World War he lived in the village of Timberscombe
in Somerset
, where he died in March 1966. In 1905 he married Sarah McCormick in Durham. He later married for a second time. He had four children, two girls and two boys. One of his daughters, Stella, became a playwright and married the poet R.N. Currey
.
, although their fame has faded considerably since then, leading for many years to a complete lack of reprints and great scarcity, although some of the stories were re-published as recently as 2008. The Uncle of the six books in the series is a millionaire elephant with a purple dressing-gown, a B.A.
from Oxford
, and a clean-living past marred by a single, never-to-be-forgotten discreditable incident
. He has many friends and supporters, including the Old Monkey, the One-Armed Badger, the cat Goodman, Noddy Ninety, Cloutman, the King of the Badgers, and Butterskin Mute. He is also the owner of an enormous castle called Homeward:
Uncle is the sworn enemy of the inhabitants of Badfort, an enormous derelict fortress that blights the landscape in front of Homeward. When Uncle surveys Badfort through his telescope at the beginning of the first book he looks "with disapproval along the whole length of Badfort, noting that there were more windows than ever stuffed with sacking", and when the Old Monkey goes there to rescue Uncle from imprisonment towards the end of Uncle Cleans Up, he discovers that it has "hundreds of rooms, many with the roofs falling in, and all the passages were piled with rubble and broken glass", while the "only light was an occasional gleam from a scob-oil lamp".
Living in Badfort are the Badfort gang, nominally headed by the Hateman family, Beaver, Nailrod Snr, Nailrod Jnr, Filljug, and Sigismund, with the support of Flabskin, Oily Joe, the dwarvish, cowardly, skewer-throwing Isidore Hitmouse, the scheming ghost Hootman, and Jellytussle, an animated mound of bluish jelly. The Badfort gang, with their Hating Books, constant plots against Uncle, constant schemes to raise money, and spasmodic low feasting and drunkenness, are a large part of what make the Uncle books unique, and the illustrations drawn by Quentin Blake
for first publication of the books have frequently been praised for capturing the exuberance and surrealism of Martin's prose.
The Uncle books are:
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...
author best known for his Uncle series of children's stories.
Martin was born in Scarborough in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
in summer 1879 and became a Methodist minister in 1902 before serving as a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and as an army chaplain in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
during the First World War
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...
. After the Second World War he lived in the village of Timberscombe
Timberscombe
Timberscombe is a village and civil parish on the River Avill south-west of Dunster, and south of Minehead within the Exmoor National Park in Somerset, England...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, where he died in March 1966. In 1905 he married Sarah McCormick in Durham. He later married for a second time. He had four children, two girls and two boys. One of his daughters, Stella, became a playwright and married the poet R.N. Currey
R.N. Currey
R.N. Currey was a South African born English poet. He was born in Mafeking, South Africa. His father was an English Methodist minister who had come out with the British troops at the end of the Boer War...
.
The Uncle series
Martin's Uncle stories were first told to his children before he was persuaded to write them down for a wider audience. When they were first published in the late 1960s and early 1970s they were hailed as modern classics of children's literatureChildren's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
, although their fame has faded considerably since then, leading for many years to a complete lack of reprints and great scarcity, although some of the stories were re-published as recently as 2008. The Uncle of the six books in the series is a millionaire elephant with a purple dressing-gown, a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from 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...
, and a clean-living past marred by a single, never-to-be-forgotten discreditable incident
TWOC
TWOC is an acronym standing for Taking Without Owner's Consent. Synonyms used by police in the UK include UTMV: Unlawful Taking of a Motor Vehicle, and TADA or TDA: Taking and Driving Away...
. He has many friends and supporters, including the Old Monkey, the One-Armed Badger, the cat Goodman, Noddy Ninety, Cloutman, the King of the Badgers, and Butterskin Mute. He is also the owner of an enormous castle called Homeward:
- Homeward is hard to describe, but try to think of about a hundred skyscrapers all joined together and surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge over it, and you'll get some idea. The towers are of many colours, and there are bathing pools and gardens amongst them, also switchback railways running from tower to tower, and water-chutes from top to bottom.
Uncle is the sworn enemy of the inhabitants of Badfort, an enormous derelict fortress that blights the landscape in front of Homeward. When Uncle surveys Badfort through his telescope at the beginning of the first book he looks "with disapproval along the whole length of Badfort, noting that there were more windows than ever stuffed with sacking", and when the Old Monkey goes there to rescue Uncle from imprisonment towards the end of Uncle Cleans Up, he discovers that it has "hundreds of rooms, many with the roofs falling in, and all the passages were piled with rubble and broken glass", while the "only light was an occasional gleam from a scob-oil lamp".
Living in Badfort are the Badfort gang, nominally headed by the Hateman family, Beaver, Nailrod Snr, Nailrod Jnr, Filljug, and Sigismund, with the support of Flabskin, Oily Joe, the dwarvish, cowardly, skewer-throwing Isidore Hitmouse, the scheming ghost Hootman, and Jellytussle, an animated mound of bluish jelly. The Badfort gang, with their Hating Books, constant plots against Uncle, constant schemes to raise money, and spasmodic low feasting and drunkenness, are a large part of what make the Uncle books unique, and the illustrations drawn by Quentin Blake
Quentin Blake
Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.-Education:...
for first publication of the books have frequently been praised for capturing the exuberance and surrealism of Martin's prose.
The Uncle books are:
- UncleUncle (novel)Uncle is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the first book of six forming the Uncle series. It is named after the main character, a rich philanthropic elephant who lives in a huge fantastical castle populated by many other eccentric animals and people...
(1964) - Uncle Cleans UpUncle Cleans UpUncle Cleans Up is a children's story written by J. P. Martin as part of his Uncle series.-Plot summary:In this story, Goodman the Cat joins Uncle's supporters...
(1965) - Uncle and His DetectiveUncle and his Detective-Plot summary:The story begins with the arrival not of a detective, but of disaster: Badfort is for sale, but when Uncle decides to buy it, demolish it, and build a pleasantly appointed park on the site, he is forestalled. Beaver Hateman has sold it cheaply to someone on the condition that he,...
(1966) - Uncle and the Treacle TroubleUncle and the Treacle TroubleUncle and the Treacle Trouble is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the fourth of his Uncle series of six books. It was illustrated, like the others in the series, by Quentin Blake....
(1967) - Uncle and Claudius the CamelUncle and Claudius the CamelUncle and Claudius the Camel is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the fifth of his Uncle series of six books. It was illustrated, like the others in the series, by Quentin Blake....
(1970) - Uncle and the Battle for BadgertownUncle and the Battle for BadgertownUncle and the Battle for Badgertown is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the last of his Uncle series of six books. It was illustrated, like the others in the series, by Quentin Blake....
(1973)
Reprints
The first book was reprinted in paperback in 2000 by Red Fox: ISBN 0-09-943869-0. See also ISBN 0099411415. Hardcover reprints of the first two volumes were published by the New York Review of Books in 2007-8 (ISBN 1-59017-239-6 and ISBN 1590172760).External links
- J.P. Martin biography and bibliography
- Detailed Uncle bibliography
- Whatever happened to Uncle? The story of a neglected classic from The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, 20 December 2005 - Liontower discussion group on Yahoo
- Stewart Russell's Uncle page
- Tales from Homeward blog
- Article on David Langford's website about the cult of Uncle