Category: British authors
Bullen, Anne
About the author Depending on the world you inhabit, Anne Bullen (1913-1963) will be known to you either as an illustrator of pony books, or as the co-owner and founder of the Catherston Stud with her husband Lieutenant Colonel Jack Bullen, but those two Anne Bullens should not be considered separately. Her work breeding ponies…
Francis, Dick
About the author Dick Francis (Richard Stanley Francis, 1920–2010) was the first of the jockeys-turned-author. He was born in Pembrokeshire, and the family moved to Berkshire and Horace Smith’s Holyport stables, where Dick’s father worked. Dick’s schooling happened when he wasn’t riding, which his father considered more important in the general scheme of things. During…
Miles, Stella
About the author Stella Miles was a British author, active in the 1950s and a competent writer of character-based whodunits. She wrote at least four murder mysteries, two of which (Murder at the Arab Stud and Saddled with Murder) have equestrian backgrounds. Whether the other books, Prescription for Murder and Murder Knows No Master have…
Francome, John
About the author John Francome (b.1952) was a National Hunt Champion Jockey seven times. After retiring as a jockey, he worked as a racing pundit for Channel 4. He has followed the Dick Francis route and taken to writing racing thrillers. The first four of these were written with James MacGregor. The first, Eavesdropper, hasn’t…
Bingham, Charlotte
About the author Charlotte Bingham was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, to parents who were both writers. Charlotte left school at the age of 16, and went to Paris. She wrote, without getting published, for three years, until she was 19, at which point she wrote her autobiography, Coronet Among the Weeds, describing her time…
Barstow, Phyllida
About the author Phyllida Barstow (b.1937) was one of five children, and spent her childhood on a farm in Radnorshire. She has worked as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, and has written 15 novels, as well as several non fiction works, including My Animals (And Other Family), the story of her…
Gervaise, Mary
About the author Mary Gervaise (1906–98) was one of the pseudonyms used by Joan Mary Wayne Brown. She was born on 21 April 1906, the daughter of an accountant and a Newnham classics graduate. She went to boarding school herself at the age of 12 in Broadstairs, although this was short lived. After she got…
Phillips, Pamela
About the author Another author who only wrote one pony book under that name: The Chestnut Pony. She was very fortunate with her illustrator, Myrtle Jerrett, who did the covers for three of Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories, and also illustrated three stories for the magazine. Finding the bookReasonably easy to find, but can be expensive…
St John, Lauren
About the author Lauren St John has written several well-received books for children. Her Dead Man’s Cove, the first in her Laura Marlin series, won the Blue Peter Children’s Book prize in 2011. She was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was brought up in South Africa on a 1,000 acre farm, where she rode,…