Barbara Willard facts for kids

Barbara Mary Willard was a British writer who lived from 1909 to 1994. She is famous for her children's books, especially her historical fiction. This means her stories are made-up, but they are set in the past. Her most famous series is called the "Mantlemass Chronicles." These books tell a family's story over many years, set in England between the 1400s and 1600s. One of her books, The Iron Lily, won a special award called the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

About Barbara Mary Willard

Barbara Mary Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex, in 1909. Her father, Edmund Willard, was an actor who performed in plays by William Shakespeare. Her great-uncle, Edward Smith Willard, was also a famous actor from the Victorian era.

Because her family was involved in theater, Barbara first tried acting. She also worked as someone who reads plays to decide if they should be performed. However, she found that acting was not for her. She stopped acting when she was in her early twenties.

Before writing for children, Barbara wrote many books for adults. She was a very private person, so not much was written about her life while she was alive. She passed away in 1994 in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex.

Her Writing Journey

Barbara Willard's most famous books are the "Mantlemass Chronicles." This series began after she wrote a book called The Grove of Green Holly in 1967. That story was about actors hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers in the 1600s.

The "Mantlemass" books tell the story of a family and their connection to a special forest. The series includes The Iron Lily, which won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1973. Other books she wrote include Hetty (1956) and Storm from the West (1963).

One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex (1989), describes Ashdown Forest in great detail. The writer Christopher Robin Milne (who was the real-life boy who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh) wrote the introduction to this book. He noted that Barbara moved near Ashdown Forest in 1956. This new home gave her ideas for ten of her historical novels for children. Eight of these were part of the "Mantlemass" series.

Barbara Willard cared deeply about Ashdown Forest. She was even elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975. She worked there for ten years. She also helped raise money to make sure the forest could be bought by the East Sussex County Council in 1988. This helped keep the forest a beautiful and peaceful place for everyone to enjoy.

Books by Barbara Willard