About
Sheila Rose (1929 – 2012) was born in Bishop’s Stortford on September 26th, 1929, and was educated at Hitchin Grammar School and Harrogate College. She started riding her own ponies, and drawing them, when she was four, and, according to her entry in Who’s Who in the Pony Magazine Annual 1968, “competed at all shows in Hertfordshire between 1940 and 1945.” Allowing for the fact it was wartime, when there were fewer shows than normal, that still shows formidable determination, especially as she also found time to hunt with the Puckeridge and South Herts.
She illustrated her first book in 1948, and had done over 80 by 1968, as well as either writing or illustrating various articles (the entry is ambiguous here; I haven’t yet been able to find any articles she wrote but there is a lot of equine writing out there buried in journals which I haven’t necessarily seen.) Sheila Rose enjoyed music, books, photography, racing, theatres and languages. She liked all animals, travelling, good coffee (bearing in mind when this entry was written, this is not surprising: finding proper coffee as opposed to flavourless ditch water was pretty difficult in 1960s Britain), sleeping, swimming and sailing. She disliked, she said “English women who tramp around the Continent in tweed skirts and brogues.”
Sheila Rose stopped illustrating (at least under that name) in 1969. She lived in Rome for over 30 years, and died there in October 2012.
Sheila Rose was one of those very rare creatures who could draw both animals and people. I have always been very fond of her drawings, and her drawings for Christine Pullein-Thompson’s The Horse Sale are some of my favourites. She was particularly good, I think at portraying horses and ponies jumping.
Finding the books
Most of the books Sheila Rose illustrated can be found reasonably easily – obviously it depends on how sought after the author is how much you will pay. Jago is probably the hardest title to find, and the Josephine Pullein-Thompsons and Joan Houston’s Jump Shy will be on the pricey side. The easiest titles to collect are the Burke printings of Christine Pullein-Thompson’s David and Pat series, starting with The First Rosette.
Links and sources
Pony Club Magazine Annuals 1962-1968
Rev W McCulloch, Church of Scotland, Rome.
Bibliography
PONY BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY SHEILA ROSE
Pamela MacGregor Morris: Not Such a Bad Summer
Latimer House, London, 1950
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: Pony Club Team
(Internal illustrations – cover is by Charlotte Hough)
Collins, London, 1950
Joanna Cannan: I Wrote a Pony Book
Collins, London, 1950
Diana Pullein-Thompson: A Pony for Sale
Collins, London, 1951
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: The Radney Riding Club
(Internal illustrations – cover possibly by Charlotte Hough)
Collins, London, 1951
Olivia Fitz Roy: Wandering Star
Collins, London, 1953
Diana Pullein-Thompson: Janet Must Ride
(Internal illustrations – cover is by Mary Gernat)
Collins,London, 1953
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: One Day Event
Collins, London, 1954
Diana Pullein-Thompson: Horses at Home & Friends Must Part
Collins, London, 1954
Veronica Westlake: The Unwilling Intruders
Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1954
M E Atkinson: Riders and Raids
Bodley Head, London, 1955
M E Atkinson: Unexpected Adventure
Bodley Head, London, 1955
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: Show Jumping Secret
Collins, London, 1955
Christine Pullein-Thompson: Phantom Horse
Collins, London, 1955
Christine Pullein-Thompson: A Day to Go Hunting
Collins, London, 1956
Gillian Baxter: Horses and Heather
Warne, 1956
Diana Pullein-Thompson: Riding with the Lyntons
Collins, London, 1956
Christine Pullein-Thompson: The First Rosette
Burke, London, 1956
Veronica Westlake: The Mug’s Game
Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1956
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: Pony Club Camp
Collins, London, 1957
Joanna Cannan: Gaze at the Moon
Collins, London, 1957
Marguerite Henry: King of the Wind
Constable, London, 1957
Lady Kitty Ritson: Tessa to the Rescue
Nelson, London, 1957
Christine Pullein-Thompson: Stolen Ponies
Collins, London, 1957
M E Atkinson: Horseshoes and Handlebars
Bodley Head, London, 1958
Christine Pullein-Thompson: The Second Mount
Burke, London, 1957
Christine Pullein-Thompson: Three to Ride
Burke, London, 1958
Anna Sewell: Black Beauty
Blackie, London, 1958
Zita White: The One Day Ponies
Lutterworth, London, 1958
Mona Sandler: Steep Farm Stables
Country Life, London, 1958
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: The Trick Jumpers
Collins, London, 1958
Joan Houston: Jump Shy
Heinemann, London, 1959
Monica Edwards: Killer Dog
Collins, London, 1959
Primrose Cumming: Flying Horseman
Dent, London, 1959
Zita White: Ride Across the Ocean
Lutterworth, London, 1959
Elizabeth Waud: Easter Meeting
Harrap, London, 1959
Christine Pullein-Thompson: The Lost Pony
Burke, London, 1959
Constance M White: Ponies at Westways
Collins, London, 1959 (Cover)
Christine Pullein-Thompson : Ride By Night
Collins, London, 1960
Christine Pullein-Thompson: The Horse Sale
Collins, London, 1960
Patricia Leitch: To Save a Pony
Hutchinson, London, 1960
Patience McElwee: The Merrythoughts
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1960
Lady Kitty Ritson: Tessa and the Rannoch Dude Ranch
Nelson, London, 1961
Sheila Chapman: Ride for Freedom
Burke, London, 1961
Josephine Pullein-Thompson: All Change
Ernest Benn, London, 1961
Frank Bernard: Broncho-Busters
W R Chambers, Edinburgh, 1961
Dorian Williams: Wendy Wins Her Spurs
Burke, London, 1962
Elinore Havers: Pony Hunt
Max Parrish, London, 1963
Primrose Cumming: The Mystery Trek
Dent, London, 1964
Judith M Berrisford: Sue’s TV Pony
Hutchinson, London, 1964
H M Peel: Jago
Harrap, London, 1966
Margaret MacPherson: Ponies for Hire
Collins, London, 1967
CHILDREN’S BOOKS (NON-PONY)
Sybil Burr: Lantern of the North
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1954
Sybil Burr: My Candle the Moon
Routledge & Kegean Paul, 1955
David Scott Daniell: The Dragon and the Rose
Jonathan Cape, 1955
Peggie Cannam: Tawny Brush
Lutterworth, London, 1957
M E Allan: The House by the Marsh
Dent, London, 1958
Brenda Macrow: The Amazing Mr Whisper
Blackie, London, 1958
Mary K Harris: Emily and the Headmistress
Faber, London, 1958
Lorna Wood: Holiday on Hot Bricks
Dent, London, 1958
Lorna Wood: Climb By Candlelight
Dent, London, 1959
Rosemary Garland: The Secret Curtains
Harrap, London, 1959
Mary D Kellaway: Happy Days
Hutchinson, London, 1959
Peggie Cannam: My Dog Echo
Lutterworth, 1959
Marjorie Sindall: Matey
Macmillan, London, 1960
Mary K Harris: Seraphina
Faber, London, 1960
Diana Pullein-Thompson: The Hidden River
Hamish Hamilton, 1960
Felica Elwell: The Vanishing Stream
Olivery & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1962
Diana Pullein-Thompson: Bindi Must Go
Harrap, London, 1962
Winifred Mantle
Ernest Benn, London, 1963
Madeline Vesey Jones: The End of the Holiday
Lutterworth, 1962
Ruth Tomalin: The Sea Mice
Faber & Faber, London, 1962
Harry Fleming: Michael and the Music Makers
Brockhampton, Leicester, 1963
Mary K Harris: Penny’s Way
Faber, London, 1963
R E Masters: North for Adventure
Macmillan, London, 1964
Harry Fleming: David and the Budgerigar
Brockhampton, Leicester, 1964
Freda Hurt: Andy Meets a Hero
Nelson, London, 1964
Joyce Stranger: Circus All Alone
Harrap, London, 1965
Kathleen Fidler: Police Dog
Lutterworth, London, 1966