Lorna Hill
Encyclopedia
Lorna Hill was a British author of over 40 books for children
.
, Switzerland
. She obtained a BA
in English Literature at Durham University
in 1926, and there met her husband, the clergyman V. R. Hill. They were married in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1928, and moved to the remote parish of Matfen
, Northumberland
, where she played the organ in church and ran a Sunday school
.
Hill's career as an author began when her daughter Vicki (Shirley Victorine), then about ten years old, found a story her mother had written as a child and asked for about its characters. The result was a series of eight books about Marjorie & Co, illustrating them herself. These began to be published in London in 1948. They were followed by the Patience series and several others.
When Vicki left home to be a ballet student at Sadler's Wells in London
, Hill missed her and began to write her Dream of Sadler's Wells series. She eventually wrote a total of 40 children's books, as well as La Sylphide, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni
, and two romances for adults, published in 1978. Hill was then obliged to stop writing by ill health. She is said to have been firm with publishers and to have earned more from her books than many of her contemporaries. Translations of some titles into several other languages appeared, including less usual ones such as Finnish (by Pirkko Biström, 1991), Indonesian (1994), Czech (1995) and Slovenian (by Bernarda Petelinšek, 1996).
In private life, Hill took an interest in animal rights that led to conflict with neighbouring farmers. She moved late in life to Keswick, Cumbria, where she died on 17 August 1991.
The Radstock
, Somerset
-based reprint company Girls Gone By Publishers
currently has four of Lorna Hill's children's books in print. The UK publishing journal The Publisher remarked in 1989, "Lorna Hill writes the kind of books children would write for, and about, themselves if they could."
Children'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...
.
Life and works
Lorna was the daughter of G. H. Leatham and his wife Edit (née Rutter). She went to Durham High School for Girls and then attended Le Manoir, a finishing school in LausanneLausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. She obtained a BA
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...
in English Literature at Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
in 1926, and there met her husband, the clergyman V. R. Hill. They were married in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1928, and moved to the remote parish of Matfen
Matfen
Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the towns of Hexham and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of an eighteenth-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the nineteenth-century Premier of British Columbia, William Smithe...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, where she played the organ in church and ran a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
.
Hill's career as an author began when her daughter Vicki (Shirley Victorine), then about ten years old, found a story her mother had written as a child and asked for about its characters. The result was a series of eight books about Marjorie & Co, illustrating them herself. These began to be published in London in 1948. They were followed by the Patience series and several others.
When Vicki left home to be a ballet student at Sadler's Wells in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Hill missed her and began to write her Dream of Sadler's Wells series. She eventually wrote a total of 40 children's books, as well as La Sylphide, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
, and two romances for adults, published in 1978. Hill was then obliged to stop writing by ill health. She is said to have been firm with publishers and to have earned more from her books than many of her contemporaries. Translations of some titles into several other languages appeared, including less usual ones such as Finnish (by Pirkko Biström, 1991), Indonesian (1994), Czech (1995) and Slovenian (by Bernarda Petelinšek, 1996).
In private life, Hill took an interest in animal rights that led to conflict with neighbouring farmers. She moved late in life to Keswick, Cumbria, where she died on 17 August 1991.
The Radstock
Radstock
Radstock is a town in Somerset, England, south west of Bath, and north west of Frome. It is within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset and had a population of 5,275 according to the 2001 Census...
, 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...
-based reprint company Girls Gone By Publishers
Girls Gone By Publishers
Girls Gone By Publishers is a publishing company run by Clarissa Cridland and Ann Mackie-Hunter and is based in Bath, Somerset. They re-publish new editions of some of the most popular girls' fiction titles from the twentieth century.-Elinor Brent-Dyer:...
currently has four of Lorna Hill's children's books in print. The UK publishing journal The Publisher remarked in 1989, "Lorna Hill writes the kind of books children would write for, and about, themselves if they could."
Marjorie series
- Marjorie and Co (1948)
- Stolen Holiday (1948)
- Border Peel (1950, illustrated by the author's daughter under the name Esmé Verity)
- Northern Lights (1999, written in 1941 but not previously published)
- Castle in Northumbria (1953)
- No Medals for Guy (1962)
Sadlers Wells series
- A Dream of Sadlers Wells (1950)
- Veronica at the Wells (1951)
- Masquerade at the Wells (1952)
- No Castanets at the Wells (1953)
- Jane Leaves the Wells (1953)
- Ella at the Wells (1954)
- Return to the Wells (1955)
- Rosanna Joins the Wells (1956)
- Principal Rôle (1957)
- Swan Feather (1958)
- Dress-Rehearsal (1959)
- Back-Stage (1960)
- Vicki in Venice (1962)
- The Secret (1964)
Patience series
- They Called Her Patience (1951)
- It Was All Through Patience (1952)
- So Guy Came Too (1954)
- The Five Shilling Holiday (1955)
Dancing Peel series
- Dancing Peel (1954)
- Dancer's Luck (1955)
- The Little Dancer (1956)
- Dancer in the Wings (1958)
- Dancer in Danger (1960)
- Dancer on Holiday (1962)
The Vicarage Children series
- The Vicarage Children (1961)
- More About Mandy (1963)
- The Vicarage Children in Skye (1966)
Adult Books
- La Sylphide, The Life of Marie Taglioni (1967)
- The Scent of Rosemary (1978)
- The Other Miss Perkin (1978)