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497:,' said Martin, and we all laughed as we munched our sandwiches and put away a lot of ice cream. Then we went to have a look at the ponies and make a fuss of them for doing so well, and we found them resting quietly in the shade of the trees and making soft little nickering noises of pleasure when they heard us speaking to them, and saw the handfuls of oats we held out to them.
395:). Jill is at first a social outcast in "horsy" Chatton because she doesn't own a pony and can't ride. When her mother's stories finally begin to sell for £52, however, the first thing she buys is "Black Boy" pony for £12 for her daughter. With hard work and the expert assistance of Martin Lowe, a wheelchair-using former
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books are a series of nine children's novels about young equestrienne Jill Crewe and her adventures with her two ponies, Black Boy and Rapide. In recent editions, small changes were made to make the books more accessible. The series takes the protagonist from the age of twelve to fifteen, from a pony
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Mrs. Darcy, a local riding instructor, has had to go to London, and Jill along with some of her friends, is looking after the riding school in Mrs. Darcy's absence. These responsibilities extend to looking after Blue Smoke, Mrs. Darcy's own gorgeous hunter worth 500 guineas. However, Blue Smoke gets
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We thought it very heartless of the vet to want tea, but we went into the house and made him a cup. We didn't make any for ourselves, it would have choked us. Every time I caught Wendy's eye she gave a gulp, and every time Wendy caught my eye I gave a gulp. We did nothing but gulp at each other. I
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about a girl who had both her legs cut off in a motor smash and got such a name for looking on the bright side that practically everybody in the town used to come to her and ask her to find a bright side for them too, and she always did. "Gosh!" I said aloud. "If Barbie could find a Bright Side in
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with my long fair curls hanging down to my waist. Children had the loveliest hair in those days.' Personally I thought (a) it was impossible to picture Mrs Pyke as a child at all, and (b) that curls down to your waist must have looked pretty awful all waving in the breeze like floating
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expectations for
English girls by scorning ladylike pursuits, treating boys her own age as equals, and working hard to achieve her goals. This makes Ferguson's writing outstanding not only in the pony stories genre, but in children's literature generally.
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Jill and her friends are having tea with Susan Pyke, a snooty, superior sort of girl with wealthy parents. Susan rides very well and is a perennial rival for Jill. Here, Susan's mother waxes nostalgic about her own horse-riding past. Source:
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Jill is grateful for her mother's success; however, as she says repeatedly throughout the series, she "can't get on" with her mother's books at all, finding them impossibly sweet and whimsical (possibly a veiled criticism of the works of
385:, Jill's father has recently died, and she moves with her mother to a small Pool Cottage near the fictional village of Chatton. Her mother hopes to support them both as a children's author (similarly to
517:'She's just been playing you up,' he said. A touch of a toothache, that's all, but you know what these thoroughbreds are like, the least touch of pain and they act as if they were dying.'
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set off down the yard with the vet's cup of tea and slopped it all over into the saucer. Then suddenly I saw the vet before me. The heartless man was grinning all over his face.
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On 1 March 1934, she married Samuel
Ferguson, a widower and electrical engineer with two sons at the Water Lane Methodist Church, in Wilmslow. Three years later, she published
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Jill is finishing up a great day at
Chatton Show, the equestrian event of the year in her part of the world. Her best friend, Ann Derry, has done quite well too. Source:
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510:'Well, you girls clear out,' said the vet, cheerfully, 'and let me have a look. Go and make me a cup of tea. I've been sitting up with a cow for hours.'
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Jill has just discovered she must spend the summer holidays away from her pony Black Boy while her mother does a book tour in the United States. Source:
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Between 1949 and 1962 she gained great popularity with the "Jill" books for her step-grandchildren, Libs, Sallie, and Pip. Her last book in 1967,
249:, appeared in 1926 published by Hodder and Stoughton. She continued writing novels and stories under the name "R.C. Ashby" until the mid-1930s.
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desperately ill in the middle of the night, and Jill is called up to the riding school to help get the vet, along with Wendy. Source:
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I did my level best to look on the bright side, only I honestly couldn't find one to look on. There was a book of Mummy's called
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827:"Ferguson [née Ashby], Ruby Constance Annie (1899–1966), novelist and children's author"
279:. The new edition also received favourable notices and it was one of the "Books of the Year" by
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A useful article about collecting old books, featuring the author's pony books, amongst others.
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in the county. I remember the M.F.H. once lifted me on to my pony himself, and there I sat in
914:"Black Boy and Rapide ride again! Jill books to be republished – plus two follow-up stories"
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and took a job as a secretary, supplementing her income by writing a regular column for the
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is reported to have enjoyed the book so much that she invited Ruby
Ferguson to dinner at
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In 1929 she assisted the
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More biographical information from Hilary Clare; plot summaries and more
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Liz Thiel. "The Dark Horse: Ruby
Ferguson and the Jill Pony Stories."
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and contributions by fifty
British authors and artists. In aid of the
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345:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
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that became her greatest success, which was republished in 2004 by
483:'Nice work,' said Martin as we came up, and we both glowed a bit.
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235:. Her writing career began in earnest when she submitted some
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Children at the Shop: The
Charming Autobiography of Childhood
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139:(28 July 1899 – 11 November 1966), was an English writer of
486:'Mine was just luck,' said Ann, 'but Jill's riding like a
460:'When I was a child,' said Mrs Pyke, 'I was the youngest
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series, most of
Ferguson's books are long out of print.
493:'You mean, if she had two eyes she'd be riding like a
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minister. Ferguson later became a lay officer of the
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Horrell, Georgina; Jaques, Zoe (14 September 2023),
1049:People educated at Bradford Girls' Grammar School
16:English fiction and children's writer (1899–1966)
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469:cork-screws.... I mean, there are always plaits.
292:, is a fictionalised memoir of her childhood.
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182:Reeth, North Yorkshire, Ferguson's hometown
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361:Learn how and when to remove this message
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155:. She is best known today for her novel
1010:from a site specialising in pony books.
831:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
231:. She reviewed books for the publisher
186:Ruby Constance Annie Ashby was born in
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399:pilot, Jill becomes a star of Chatton
202:church. She received her education at
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839:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.107939
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1054:Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford
564:("The Methodist", No. 90, June 1932)
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912:Jones, Eleanor (13 November 2021).
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25:Ruby Constance Annie Ashby Ferguson
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1079:20th-century English women writers
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271:. After its original publication,
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381:In the first book in the series,
378:novice to a prize-winning rider.
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239:for a weekly competition in the
803:1939 England and Wales Register
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245:. Her first full-length novel,
170:for children and young adults.
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133:Ruby Constance Annie Ferguson
254:West Derbyshire constituency
147:, romances and mysteries as
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833:, Oxford University Press,
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341:the claims made and adding
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1039:English children's writers
871:Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary
668:The Cousins of Colonel Ivy
544:The Tale of Rowan Christie
441:this she ought to get the
261:Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary
157:Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary
117:Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary
44:Ruby Constance Annie Ashby
1059:People from Hebden Bridge
986:Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary
974:24 September 2015 at the
901:. Hodder & Stoughton.
767:Jill and the Perfect Pony
604:Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary
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940:The Lion and the Unicorn
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895:Ferguson, Ruby (1967).
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242:Manchester Evening News
943:26, 2002, pp. 112–122.
745:Jill Enjoys her Ponies
696:. With a message from
644:A Paintbox for Pauline
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947:. Accessible through
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698:Her Majesty the Queen
680:A Woman With a Secret
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165:Pullein-Thompsonesque
145:children's literature
998:by Nicholas Clee of
898:Children at the Shop
874:. Persephone Books.
749:Jill and the Runaway
712:(1939) (contributor)
702:Lord Mayor of London
662:Doves in My Fig-tree
568:Plot Against a Widow
392:The Railway Children
290:Children at the Shop
263:as Ruby Ferguson, a
233:Hodder and Stoughton
212:University of Oxford
988:at Persephone Books
969:A biographical note
777:Challenges for Jill
739:Jill has Two Ponies
650:The Leopard's Coast
614:The Moment of Truth
562:Miss Graham's Guest
504:Jill Has Two Ponies
163:books, a series of
773:Pony Jobs for Jill
755:Jill's Riding Club
586:Out Went the Taper
574:He Arrived at Dusk
437:Barbie Bright Side
326:possibly contains
221:She then moved to
208:St Hilda's College
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918:Horse & Hound
881:978-1-903155-43-1
848:978-0-19-861412-8
761:Rosettes for Jill
733:A Stable for Jill
727:A Stable for Jill
674:The Wakeful Guest
620:Our Dreaming Done
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96:R. C. Ashby,
78:(1966-11-11)
54:28 July 1899
18:
1034:1966 deaths
1029:1899 births
638:Apricot Sky
409:Enid Blyton
389:'s classic
149:R. C. Ashby
85:Nationality
1064:Pony books
1023:Categories
790:References
401:equitation
335:improve it
223:Manchester
168:pony books
103:Occupation
50:1899-07-28
995:Lady Rose
949:libraries
945:Full Text
923:2 October
854:2 October
706:Red Cross
387:E. Nesbit
339:verifying
200:Methodist
972:Archived
729:. (1949)
708:and the
420:Extracts
413:post-war
196:Wesleyan
159:and her
106:Novelist
495:centaur
488:cyclops
333:Please
210:at the
88:British
66:England
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135:, née
123:Spouse
978:from
307:books
192:Reeth
137:Ashby
925:2023
876:ISBN
856:2023
843:ISBN
443:V.C.
375:Jill
373:The
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161:Jill
151:and
73:Died
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