Ruby Ferguson
Encyclopedia
Ruby Ferguson, 1899-1966, née Rubie Constance Ashby, was a British
writer of popular fiction, including children's books
, romances, and mysteries. She is best known today for her "Jill" books, a series of Pullein-Thompsonesque
pony books for children and young adults.
, North Yorkshire
. Her father was a Wesleyan
minister, and Ferguson herself later became a lay officer of the Methodist church. She received her education at Bradford
Girls' Grammar School
and then at St Hilda's College
at the University of Oxford
, where she read English from 1919 to 1922, gaining a normal BA
and, a few years later, the Oxford MA
. She then moved to Manchester
and took a job as a secretary, supplementing her income by writing a regular column for the British Weekly, and by reading and reviewing books for a publisher. Her writing career began in earnest when she submitted some detective stories to a weekly competition in the Manchester Evening News
. Her first full-length novel appeared in 1926, and she continued writing novels and stories under the name "R.C. Ashby" until the mid-1930s.
In 1934 she married Samuel Ferguson, a widower with two sons. Three years later, she published Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary, a romantic novel which proved very popular. Between 1949 and 1962 she attained her greatest success when she wrote the "Jill" books for her step-grandchildren, Libs, Sallie, and Pip. Her last book, Children at the Shop, is a fictionalised memoir of her childhood.
intend to republish the series, and like their previous works, it will use the original text. In recent editions, small changes were made to the background details to make the books more accessible to later generations; references to cigarette smoking were excised, for example, and "Black Boy" became the more politically correct
"Danny Boy". The series takes the protagonist from the age of eleven to seventeen, from a pony novice to a prize-winning rider.
In the first book in the series, Jill's Gymkhana, Jill's father has recently died, and she moves with her mother to a small cottage near the fictional village of Chatton. Her mother hopes to support them both as a children's author (shades of E. Nesbit
's classic The Railway Children
). Jill is at first a social outcast in "horsy" Chatton because she doesn't own a pony and can't ride. When her mother's stories finally begin to sell, however, the first thing she buys is a pony for her daughter. With hard work and the expert assistance of Martin Lowe, a wheelchair-using former Royal Air Force
pilot, Jill becomes a star of Chatton equitation
.
Jill is grateful for her mother's success; however, as she says repeatedly throughout the series, she "can't get on" with her mother's books at all, finding them impossibly sweet and whimsical (possibly a veiled criticism of the works of Enid Blyton
). In contrast, Ferguson's Jill is an active, independent and witty character who defies post-war expectations for English girls by scorning ladylike pursuits, treating boys her own age as equals, and working hard to achieve her goals. This makes Ferguson's writing outstanding not only in the pony stories genre, but in children's literature generally.
Mrs. Darcy, a local riding instructor, has had to go to London, and Jill along with some of her friends, is looking after the riding school in Mrs. Darcy's absence. These responsibilities extend to looking after Blue Smoke, Mrs. Darcy's own gorgeous hunter worth 500 guineas. However, Blue Smoke gets desperately ill in the middle of the night, and Jill is called up to the riding school to help get the vet, along with Wendy. Source: Jill Has Two Ponies, Chapter 11
. At its original publication, The Queen Mother
is reported to have enjoyed the book so much that she invited Ruby Ferguson to dinner at Buckingham Palace
. The new edition also received favourable notices; in fact, it was listed as one of the "Books of the Year" by The Spectator
.
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 of popular fiction, including children's books
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...
, romances, and mysteries. She is best known today for her "Jill" books, a series of Pullein-Thompsonesque
Pullein-Thompson sisters
The Pullein-Thompson sisters – Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE , Diana Pullein-Thompson and Christine Pullein-Thompson – are British writers of many pony books, mostly fictional, aimed at children and mostly popular with girls...
pony books for children and young adults.
Life and career
Ferguson was born and raised in ReethReeth
Reeth is a village in the Yorkshire Dales within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England and principal settlement of Swaledale. It is situated at the meeting point of the two most northerly of the Yorkshire Dales: Swaledale and Arkengarthdale....
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
. Her father was a Wesleyan
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
minister, and Ferguson herself later became a lay officer of the Methodist church. She received her education at Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
Girls' Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and then at St Hilda's College
St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.The college was founded in 1893 as a hall for women, and remained an all-women's college until 2006....
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where she read English from 1919 to 1922, gaining a normal 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...
and, a few years later, the Oxford MA
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
. She then moved to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and took a job as a secretary, supplementing her income by writing a regular column for the British Weekly, and by reading and reviewing books for a publisher. Her writing career began in earnest when she submitted some detective stories to a weekly competition in the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
. Her first full-length novel appeared in 1926, and she continued writing novels and stories under the name "R.C. Ashby" until the mid-1930s.
The "Jill" books
The "Jill" books are a series of nine children's novels about young equestrienne Jill Crewe and her adventures with her two ponies, Black Boy and Rapide. The series was illustrated with line drawings by Caney, and have only recently gone out of print. Fidra BooksFidra Books
Fidra Books is a publisher based in Edinburgh which specialises in reissuing forgotten children's books, especially those from the 1940s onwards....
intend to republish the series, and like their previous works, it will use the original text. In recent editions, small changes were made to the background details to make the books more accessible to later generations; references to cigarette smoking were excised, for example, and "Black Boy" became the more politically correct
Politically Correct
Politically Correct may refer to:*Political correctness, language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seeking to minimize offence to groups of people-See also:*Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, book by James Finn Garner, published in 1994...
"Danny Boy". The series takes the protagonist from the age of eleven to seventeen, from a pony novice to a prize-winning rider.
In the first book in the series, Jill's Gymkhana, Jill's father has recently died, and she moves with her mother to a small cottage near the fictional village of Chatton. Her mother hopes to support them both as a children's author (shades of E. Nesbit
E. Nesbit
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
's classic The Railway Children
The Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
). Jill is at first a social outcast in "horsy" Chatton because she doesn't own a pony and can't ride. When her mother's stories finally begin to sell, however, the first thing she buys is a pony for her daughter. With hard work and the expert assistance of Martin Lowe, a wheelchair-using former Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
pilot, Jill becomes a star of Chatton equitation
Equitation
Equitation is the art or practice of horse riding or horsemanship.More specifically, equitation may refer to a rider's position while mounted, and encompass a rider's ability to ride correctly and with effective aids. In horse show competition, the rider, rather than the horse is evaluated...
.
Jill is grateful for her mother's success; however, as she says repeatedly throughout the series, she "can't get on" with her mother's books at all, finding them impossibly sweet and whimsical (possibly a veiled criticism of the works of Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
). In contrast, Ferguson's Jill is an active, independent and witty character who defies post-war expectations for English girls by scorning ladylike pursuits, treating boys her own age as equals, and working hard to achieve her goals. This makes Ferguson's writing outstanding not only in the pony stories genre, but in children's literature generally.
Extracts
- Jill has just discovered she must spend the summer holidays away from her pony while her mother does a book tour in the United States. Source: A Stable for Jill, Chapter 1.
- Jill and her friends are having tea with Susan Pyke, a snooty, superior sort of girl with wealthy parents. Susan rides very well and is a perennial rival for Jill. Here, Susan's mother waxes nostalgic about her own horseriding past. Source: Jill's Gymkhana, Chapter 16.
- Jill is finishing up a great day at Chatton Show, the equestrian event of the year in her part of the world. Her best friend, Ann Derry, has done quite well too. Source: Jill's Gymkhana, Chapter 18.
Mrs. Darcy, a local riding instructor, has had to go to London, and Jill along with some of her friends, is looking after the riding school in Mrs. Darcy's absence. These responsibilities extend to looking after Blue Smoke, Mrs. Darcy's own gorgeous hunter worth 500 guineas. However, Blue Smoke gets desperately ill in the middle of the night, and Jill is called up to the riding school to help get the vet, along with Wendy. Source: Jill Has Two Ponies, Chapter 11
Other works
Aside from the "Jill" series, most of Ferguson's books are long out of print and have become somewhat rare. The exception is Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary, which was recently republished by Persephone BooksPersephone 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...
. At its original publication, The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
is reported to have enjoyed the book so much that she invited Ruby Ferguson to dinner at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. The new edition also received favourable notices; in fact, it was listed as one of the "Books of the Year" by 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...
.
The Jill series
- Jill's Gymkhana Sometimes sold with A stable for Jill. (1949)
- A Stable for Jill (1951)
- Jill has Two Ponies (1952)
- Jill Enjoys her Ponies (1954) (later republished as Jill and the Runaway)
- Jill's Riding Club (1956)
- Rosettes for Jill (1957)
- Jill and the Perfect Pony (1959)
- Pony Jobs for Jill (1960) (later republished as Challenges for Jill)
- Jill's Pony Trek (1962)
Other works as Ruby Ferguson
- Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary (1937) (Republished in 2004 by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone 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...
- The Moment of Truth (1944)
- Our Dreaming Done (1946)
- Winter's Grace (1948)
- Turn Again Home (1951)
- Apricot Sky (1952)
- A Paintbox for Pauline (1953)
- The Leopard's Coast (1954)
- For Every Favour (1956)
- Doves in My Fig-tree (1957)
- The Cousins of Colonel Ivy (1959)
- The Wakeful Guest (1962)
- A Woman With a Secret (1965)
- Children at the Shop: The Charming Autobiography of Childhood (1967)
- The Queen's Book of the Red CrossThe Queen's Book of the Red CrossThe Queen's Book of the Red Cross was published in November 1939 in afundraising effort to aid the Red Cross during World War II.The book was sponsored by Queen Elizabeth, and itscontents were contributed by fifty British authors and artists....
. With a message from Her Majesty the QueenElizabeth Bowes-LyonElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
and contributions by fifty British authors and artists. In aid of the Lord Mayor of LondonLord Mayor of LondonThe Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
's Fund for the Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (1939) (contributor)
As R.C. Ashby
- The Moorland Man (1926)
- The Tale of Rowan Christie (1927)
- Beauty Bewitched (1928)
- Death at Tiptoe (1931)
- Plot Against a Widow (1932)
- He Arrived at Dusk (1933)
- One Way Traffic (1933)
- Out Went the Taper (1934)
External links
- A biographical note from Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone 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...
, which recently reissued Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary. - A review of Lady Rose by Nicholas Clee of The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. - More biographical information from Hilary Clare; plot summaries and more from a site specialising in pony books.
- A useful article about collecting old books, featuring the author's pony books, amongst others.