Richmal Crompton and Just William

Richmal Crompton was a novelist, who wrote many novels for adults, but she became most famous for the creation of William Brown, a scruffy anarchistic schoolboy, who won the hearts of the reading public.   She was born in 1890 to a clergyman and teacher, Edward John Sewell Lamburn.  The family lived in Lancashire.  She used her middle names as her pen name.

She had a good education, like many clergymen’s daughters.  Boarding schools for middle class girls were becoming more popular and Richmal had decided to become a teacher.   She was sympathetic to women’s rights and eager to have a career of her own. So she went to University in London.
 In 1914, she left University and took a job as classics mistress at her own old school. 

 Some years later she moved to Bromley, near London, to work at another school and began to write seriously.   In 1923, she contracted polio, which left her with a damaged leg... but she was now writing full time.  She never married, but had siblings and nieces and nephews of whom she was very fond.   She spent some time in a wheelchair because of her limited mobility… but during World War 2 she still found time to do war work.

She wrote over 40 novels, about adult life, mostly set in villages in the Home Counties.  Such fiction was popular in the 20s and 30s but became dated as time passed.  But her William stories seem to have a timeless appeal.

William is the son of an exasperated Conservative Father, and a patient mother... who puts up with his antics while his father gets cross about them.   Although the family are middle class, with servants, this doesn't seem to  put off the readers.

William has no respect for authority.  He has a dog, Jumble and several friends – the “Outlaws” who help him in his schemes.  He is frank and honest, not understanding grown up hypocrisy and manners...

His social rival in the village Is Hubert Lane, who is more of a hypocrite and has a rival gang, whom he bribes with his liberal pocket money.

William is at the age when he “hates girls”.  He is irritated by his older sister Ethel, and her many suitors… and she’s embarrassed by her awful little brother.    In spite of disliking girls, he rather likes his next door neighbour Joan... and he is often bested by the enfant terrible Violet Elizabeth Bott.  Violet is the daughter of a nouveau riche businessman in the town...   She has a lisp, is spoiled and self-willed and is able to cow the Outlaws into letting her join their adventures by claiming that she will “scream and scream until she’s sick” The boys dread feminine hysterics and are unable to outwit her... so tehy often given in.

 William is not much good at school, but he is always active at some scheme... such as putting on a circus, or editing a newspaper.  He has little idea of what’s going on in the world and usually gets things wrong.  He sometimes tries to “help people” like PG Wodehouse’s  Boy Scouts, who insist on doing “kindly deeds” regardless of whether people want them done or not!

The books have been adapted for radio, film TV and theatre...

One of the most famous TV adaptations was in the 1970s, with a young Bonnie Langford as Violet Elizabeth Bott.  Dennis Waterman played William as a boy actor in the 1960s.