Richmal Crompton: The Woman Behind Just William

by Mary Cadogan, Mary Cadogan

Biography of Richmal Crompton

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 1986

About the author

An author who has published extensively on the topics of popular and children's fiction - from a study of women in detective novels, to a biography of Richmal Crompton, creator of the Just William and Billy Bunter series - Mary Cadogan took to writing late in life, after a long career, first with the BBC, and then working for Indian philosopher Krishnamurti. She edited the Just William Society Magazine for a number of years, as well as the Story Paper Collectors' Digest, from 1987 through 2005. Cadogan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University in 2009.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met William Brown for the first time when I was about eight years of age and it was love at first sight. Thanks to our local library, there were endless copies of the red bound Macmillan hard backs just waiting for me and I devoured four volumes of William's adventures a week. And the affair continued into my first few weeks of secondary school, so much so, my then English teacher wrote in red biro that I should try and read something else. A comment that has always niggled as she had no idea of my varied reading habits at the time or the fact I half lived in the library. (The woman in question is now a friend of a friend and apparently doesn't remember me - oh well). William's world of scruffiness, wild imagination, old barns, wandering tramps, flapper sisters, loyal Outlaws, all brought to life by the wonderful work of illustrator Thomas Henry, really did appeal. It came as something of a shock to discover my mother had read William in her childhood too, he was really THAT old! I loved the London Weekend adaptations - watching them recently evidence of when TV companies really cared about children's programmes and spent money on them and even the more recent BBC ones that brought William into the 50s, though not so the 90s series that made William, takes a sharp inhalation, BLOND.
Familiarity (some might have said obsession) with William did not necessarily mean the same with his creator, and it has to be said, thanks to a recent 'Great Lives' on R4 (Peter Oborne on William himself), I discovered this delightful biography. What is clear, is that Ray, as she was mainly known, was a clever, delightful and entertaining woman who called her most famous creation the 'little savage'. Savage he may be, but he provided her with a large house set in grounds, and a literary life many might covet. In spite of her half-amused nickname, the 'little savage' can't have been a bad companion; after all, she spent over fifty years writing about his adventures, and I for one am truly grateful.

[George Foord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read and very well researched by the author. A must for anyone who likes her books.

[Robin Braysher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the most exciting biography, but then it's not a requirement of successful authors that they lead exciting lives! There were circumstances in Crompton's life that prevented it from being especially exciting, but the benefit to us was the creation of William Brown in 1922. I was a fan of the books in my youth, have seen various TV adaptations over the years and returned to the stories with my own children, particularly in the form of audiobooks - which probably explains why every quote from a William story in the book, I heard in the voice of Martin Jarvis!

This is a perfectly serviceable account of her life and this and the fact that she wrote other books and, indeed, intended William for an adult readership, was all new to me. Very readable, I read the whole book in a single day, on train journeys to and from London. If you are interested in the William stories then it's worth a read, if you're not then maybe give it a miss!

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of the author.

There are some interesting facts and snippets about the life of Richmal but also there are a lot of quotes from her books that don't necessarily fit the parts of her life that are being described. I feel that these could have been omitted.

I felt that the biography was overwritten in parts but also skirted around certain things that might have added to the account. I'd recommend it to fans of William Brown but not necessarily to the general reader.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched tribute to one of the 20th centuries great children's author's who really wanted to be an adult author Shades of Connan Doyle with Sherlock? However, Richmal Compton knew what bought home the bacon. And continued to write stories about William until her death. Delightful

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not speshully well wrote but innerestin.

Update: April 2026. I reread this book after reading Family Roundabout, a 1948 novel for adults by RC. I had forgotten her having polio in her thirties, and that the William stories were originally written with adults in mind. It’s also striking that when she began writing, and for many years, there was huge demand for short stories in magazines; authors could make a decent living. The other truth here is that authors‘ lives can tend to be humdrum, if only because of the sheer amount of time they have to spend reading. Richmal Crompton was a cheerful and witty woman who liked a laugh and loved her family.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting! Answered many of the questions I had about one of my beloved authors.

[Brian]

I am still looking for it as an e-book.

[Steve Clark]

1987