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The Pullein-Thompson sisters —
Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE (3
April 1924-[1]),
Diana Pullein-Thompson (1 October 1925 -) [2]
and Christine Pullein-Thompson (1 October 1925–2
December 2005[2] —
are British writers of several horse and pony books (mostly
fictional) aimed at children and mostly popular with girls.
They started at a very young age (initially writing collectively)
and they were at their peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but their
popularity has endured. They have written a collective
autobiography Fair Girls and Grey Horses.
All 3 sisters have written at least 1 book under a different
name; Josephine wrote 1 under the pseudonym of Josephine
Mann, Diana 3 books under her married name of
Diana Farr and Christine wrote 2 books under the
name of Christine Keir. Further details of the
titles are given in the relevant section.
Their mother, Joanna Cannan (1898–1961), sister of the
poet May Cannan, wrote similar equestrian
stories, but is better known for detective mysteries. Their father
was Captain Harold J "Cappy" Pullein-Thompson, who was badly
injured during the first world war. Consequently he made his money
by selling refrigerators, and did not publish any works. They also
have a brother Denis
Cannan who is an author in his own right, though has published
nowhere near as many works when compared to his sisters. His work
tends to be mainly plays.
They are also related to the British novelist and dramatist Gilbert Cannan
and the academic Charles Cannan. Joanna Cannan and May Cannan were
daughters of Charles Cannan making Gilbert Cannan their cousin. Diana later
wrote an autobiography of Gilbert Cannan's life. Their father was
brother of Emily Muriel Pullein Thompson who was the mother of the
composer John Gardener who is therefore
also their cousin.
Christine had four children as a result of marriage; two sons
and two daughters. Her marriage was to Julian Popescu in 1954. One
of her daughters Charlotte Popescu
is an author in her own right, publishing children's pony books.
However they are not as widely known as her mother's or her aunts'.
Her other children were called Phillip, Mark and Lucy. In addition
she had 8 grandchildren (Oliver, Daniel, Anna, Benjamin, Thomas and
Hamish, Edwina and Maxwell). Diana married art historian Dennis
Farr, and had 2 children (one son, one daughter).
Like their mother, the National Portrait
Gallery in London also holds a picture of them.
The sisters' books are strongly oriented towards ponies and for
almost 60 years they have been much loved by young girls with a
strong enthusiasm for horses and ponies. Diana has often written
books aimed at a slightly older audience, including some set in London. Christine was the most
prolific and also wrote a number of stories which are not
specifically concerned with horses or ponies; these are mostly
aimed at younger children. Apart from the books listed below, all
three sisters have also edited and contributed to various
anthologies of horse and pony stories. Their titles include:
Josephine
- Six Ponies (1946)
- I Had Two Ponies (1947)
- Plenty of Ponies (1949)
- Pony Club Team (1950)
- The Radney Riding Club (1951)
- Prince Among Ponies (1952)
- One Day Event (1954)
- Show Jumping Secret (1955)
- Patrick's Pony (1956)
- Pony Club Camp (1957)
- The Trick Jumpers (1958)
- All Change (later republished as The Hidden
Horse) (1961)
- How Horses Are Trained (non fiction) (1961)
- Ponies In Colour (non fiction) (1962)
- Learn To Ride Well (later republished as How To
Ride Well) (non fiction) (1966)
- Horses and Their Owners (non fiction) (1970)
- Race Horse Holiday (also published as Racehorse
Holiday) (1971)
- Proud Riders (chosen by) (1973)
- Black Ebony (1975)
- Star Riders Of The Moor (later republished as Star
Riders) (1976)
- Ride Better And Better (Non-fiction) (1977)
- Fear Treks The Moor (1978)
- Black Nightshade (1978)
- Ride To The Rescue (1979)
- Ghost Horse On The Moor (1980)
- The No-Good Pony (1981)
- Treasure On The Moor (1982)
- The Prize Pony (1982)
- Black Raven (1982)
- Pony Club Cup (1982)
- Save The Ponies (1984)
- Mystery On The Moor (1984)
- Pony Club Challenge (1984)
- Pony Club Trek (1985)
- Suspicion Stalks The Moor (1986)
- Black Swift (1991)
- A Job With Horses (1994)
Dates Unknown:-
- Youth In The Saddle (contributor)
Josephine also wrote the adult mystery books Gin and
Murder (1959), Murder Strikes Pink (1963) and
They Died In The Spring (1960). She also wrote the book
A Place With Two Faces (1972) under the pseudonym of
Josephine Mann. She has long been involved with the British branch
of the writers' organisation International PEN, which campaigns
for writers' freedoms in authoritarian or tyrannical regimes. She
was awarded the MBE in 1984.
The book Six Ponies is now available to buy from Fidra Books (who are
also republishing some of Joanna Cannan's books), which includes
original illustrations and text.
Diana
- I Wanted A Pony (1946)
- Three Ponies and Shannan (1947)
- The Penny Fields (has been published under The
Pennyfields) (1949)
- A Pony To School (1950)
- A Pony For Sale (1951)
- Janet Must Ride (1953)
- Horses At Home and Friends Must Part (1954)
- Riding With The Lyntons (1956)
- Riding For Children (non-fiction)(1957)
- The Boy & The Donkey (later republished as The
Donkey Race) (1958)
- The Secret Dog (1958)
- The Boy Who Came To Stay (1960)
- The Hidden River (1960)
- Bindi Must Go (1962)
- The Battle Of Clapham Common (1962)
- The Hermit's Horse (1974)
- Black Princess (1975)
- Ponies In The Valley (1976)
- Black Romany (1978)
- Ponies On The Trail (1978)
- Ponies In Peril (1979)
- Cassidy In Danger (later republished as This Pony
Is Dangerous) (1979)
- Only a Pony (1980)
- The Pony Seekers (1981)
- A Foal For Candy (1981)
- Black Piper (1982)
- A Pony Found (1983)
- Dear Pup: Letters To A Young Dog (1988)
- The Long Ride Home (1996)
Dates unknown:
- Youth In The Saddle (contributor)
The books Five at 10: Prime Ministers' Consorts Since
1957 (1985), Gilbert Cannan; A Georgian Prodigy
(1978) and Choosing (1988) have been published under her
married name (Diana Farr) in addition to her maiden (and better
known) name.
Christine
- We Rode To The Sea (1948)
- We Hunted Hounds (1949)
- I Carried The Horn (1951)
- Goodbye To Hounds (1952)
- Riders From Afar (1954)
- Phantom Horse (1955)
- A Day To Go Hunting (1956)
- The First Rosette (1956)
- The Second Mount (1957)
- Stolen Ponies (1957)
- The Impossible Horse (1957)
- Three To Ride (1958)
- The Lost Pony (1959)
- Ride By Night (1960)
- The Horse Sale (1960)
- For Want Of A Saddle (1960)
- Giles And The Elephant (1960)
- The Empty Field (1961)
- Giles And The Greyhound (1961)
- The Open Gate (1962)
- Bandits In The Hills (1962)
- Giles And The Canal (1962)
- The Gipsy Children (1962)
- The Doping Affair (later published as The Pony
Dopers) (1963)
- The Eastmans In Brittany (1964)
- Granny Comes To Stay (1964)
- No-One At Home (1964)
- Homeless Katie (1964)
- The Boys From The Cafe (1965)
- The Eastmans Move House (1965)
- A Dog In A Pram (1965)
- The Eastmans Find A Boy (1966)
- The Stolen Car (1966)
- A Day To Remember (1966)
- The Lost Cow (1966)
- Little Black Pony (1967)
- Robbers In The Night (1967)
- Room To Let (1968)
- Nigel Eats His Words (1969)
- Phantom Horse Comes Home (1970)
- Riders On The March (1970)
- Phantom Horse Goes To Ireland (1972)
- They Rode To Victory(1972)
- A Pony Scrapbook (1972)
- I Rode A Winner (1973)
- A Second Pony Scrapbook (1973)
- Follyfoot Pony Quiz Book (the Follyfoot in the title relates to the Monica Dickens
books and the Yorkshire Television
series)(1974)
- Black Velvet (1975)
- Good Riding (non-fiction)(1975)
- Christine Pullein-Thompson's Book of Pony Stories
(1975)
- A Pony To Love (non fiction) (1975)
- Strange Riders At Black Pony Inn (1976)
- Mystery At Black Pony Inn (1976)
- Pony Patrol (1977)
- Pony Patrol S.O.S. (1977)
- Pony Patrol Fights Back (1977)
- Christine Pullein-Thompson's Second Book of Pony
Stories (1977)
- Blossom (1978)
- Pony Parade (1978)
- Prince At Black Pony Inn (1978)
- Secrets At Black Pony Inn (1978)
- Riding For Fun (non fiction) (1978)
- Improve Your Riding (non-fiction)(1979)
- Phantom Horse In Danger (1980)
- Pony Patrol And The Mystery Horse (1981)
- Phantom Horse Goes To Scotland (1981)
- Father Unknown (1981)
- Black Pioneer (1982)
- Ponies In The Park (1982)
- Ponies In The Forest (1983)
- Ponies In The Blizzard (1984)
- Wait For Me Phantom Horse (1985)
- A Home For Jessie (1986)
- Please Save Jessie (1987)
- Stay At Home, Ben (1987)
- Careless Ben (1988)
- The Big Storm (1988)
- The Road Through The Hills (1988)
- Candy Goes To The Gymkhana (1989)
- Candy Stops A Train (1989)
- Catastrophe At Black Pony Inn (1989)
- Good Deeds At Black Pony Inn (1989)
- Smoke In The Hills (1989)
- Across The Frontier (1990)
- Runaway Ben (1990)
- Come Home, Jessie (1991)
- The Long Search (1991)
- I Want That Pony! (1993)
- A Pony In Distress (1994)
- The Best Pony For Me! (1995)
- Horsehaven (1996)
- Bedtime Pony Stories (1997)
- Sundance Saves The Day (these were based upon Julip horses
and was sold exclusively through their catalogue) (1997)
- More Bedtime Pony Stories (1997)
- The Pony Test (1997)
- Incredible Pony Tales (1998)
- Magical Pony Tales (1998)
- The Pony Picnic (1998)
- Havoc At Horsehaven (1999)
- Horsehaven Lives On (1999)
- A Yo-Yo For Sam (1999)
Dates unknown:
- Triple Adventure (co-author)
The title The Impossible Horse has also been published
under the name of Christine Keir, which may have been a pseudonym,
as it is the same story. Also, the book Riding (1983)
which is part of the Granada Guides series, has also been published
under the same name.
Josephine, Diana
and Christine collectively
- It Began With Picotee (1946)
- Fair Girls and Grey Horses (1996)
- Pullein-Thompson Treasury Of Horse And Pony Stories
(1995)
References
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