The Just William Series of Books Was Born Richmal Crompton Lamburn in 1890
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PEPYS JUST WILLIAM CARD GAME Comments about the cards in the game Richmal Crompton who wrote the Just William series of books was born Richmal Crompton Lamburn in 1890. She was the daughter of a clergyman and became a schoolmistress in 1914. She gave up teaching because she had begun to write part time in 1919 and was successful, so she decided to make it her full time job. She was very active in the Women’s Suffrage movement. Unfortunately she contracted poliomyelitis in 1923 and as a result she lost all use of her left leg and became confined to a wheelchair. She never married. The very first William story was published in Home Magazine and was entitled “Rice Mould Pudding”. The books about William were very popular and she wrote a total of 38 in all. Her other books also sold well and she wrote 41 adult novels, which she considered to be her main work, and another 9 books of short stories. All the William series were collections of short stories and they sold over 12 million copies in the UK alone. The illustrator of the William books was Thomas Henry Fisher (known as Thomas Henry) who illustrated Richmal Crompton’s books from 1919. Strangely, he never met her until 1954. He was also well known for his cartoons for Punch and London Opinion from 1945 to 1952. The very popular radio series of 1948 was broadcast on Children’s Hour by the BBC with David Spenser playing William and the stuck up Hubert Lane played by Charles Hawtry. This programme was probably the reason Pepys introduced this card game. Richmal Crompton David Spenser The Just William (JW) set of cards Unlike most of the other Pepys games based on books or films the Just William game’s sets are scenes from four of the short stories that make up the relevent book. The caption “A real giant said William” is from the story “The Show”. The caption “He knocked Mr Brown into the rhododendron bush” from “William goes to the Pictures”. The caption “Rufus paid an unexpected visit to Ethel” from “The Best Laid Plans” and “Here is the wigwam Paleface he said” from “William the Intruder”. I must express my thanks to Lez McClair of the Just William Society for the information about the titles of the appropriate stories. This, the first of the William books, was published in 1922. The Pepys Just William game was published in 1952 This is the dust jacket from an early edition of Just William. The More William (MW) set of cards More William was also published in 1922 Dust jacket from an early edition The William Again (WA) set of cards William Again was published in 1923 Dust Jacket from an early edition The William the Rebel (WR) set of cards William the Rebel was published in 1933 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Showman (WS) set of cards William the Showman was published in 1937 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Gangster (WG) set of cards William the Gangster was published in 1934 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Detective (WD) set of cards William the Detective was published in 1935 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Outlaw (WO) set of cards William the Outlaw was published in 1927 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Pirate (WP) set of cards William the Pirate was published in1932 Dust jacket from an early edition The William the Bold (WB) set of cards William the Bold was published in 1950 Dust jacket from an early edition This is a complete list of all the William books Just William 1922 More William 1922 William Again 1923 William the Fourth 1924 Still William 1925 William the Conqueror 1926 William the Outlaw 1927 William in Trouble 1927 William the Good 1928 William 1929 William the Bad 1930 William's Happy Days 1930 William's Crowded Hours 1931 William the Pirate 1932 William the Rebel 1933 William the Gangster 1934 William the Detective 1935 Sweet William 1936 William the Showman 1937 William the Dictator 1938 William and ARP 1939 William's Bad Resolution 1956 Just William. The Story of the Film 1939 William and the Evacuees 1940 William the Film Star 1956 William Does His Bit 1941 William Carries On 1942 William & the Brains Trust 1945 Just William's Luck 1948 William the Bold 1950 William & the Tramp 1952 William & the Moon Rocket 1954 William and the Space Animal 1956 William's Television Show 1958 William The Explorer 1960 William's Treasure Trove 1962 William and the Witch 1964 William and the Pop Singers 1965 William and the Masked Ranger 1966 William the Superman 1968 William the Lawless 1970 .