Alison Uttley

The Downs, Number 13, with the Alison Uttley Blue Plaque, 1986. Traffod Local Studies collection, cat. ref. TL4255

Born on 17 December 1884 at Castle Top Farm, near Cromford, Alison Jane Uttley (née Alice Jane Taylor) was an English writer, who is best known for her children’s books about Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig. It was not, however, until she was widowed, where she found herself to be in a situation of urgent need to provide for herself and her son (John), that she turned her attention to writing as a profession. Alison grew up in the country landscape, memories of which she used to paint a number of her stories. Alison published a wide range of works, from nursery rhymes and children’s fiction, to young adult fiction - from books of essays, to adult literature, and non-fiction works in the form of various articles, reviews, a historical book on Buckinghamshire, and even a cookery book.

Education

Alison received her primary education at the Lea Board School in Holloway. In 1897, she was awarded a scholarship at the Lady Manners School in Bakewell. It was during her time in secondary education, here, that she developed a keen interest in science. This led to her excelling in the necessary subject/s to obtain a scholarship at Manchester University to read physics. Whilst completing her studies, she lived in Ashburne House (later to be named Ashburne Hall) which was the university’s first Hall of Residence for women. Unbeknown to her, it was also during her time at university that she would befriend Gertrude, the sister of her future husband. In 1906, Alison became the second woman to graduate with honours in Physics at the university.

Post-education and living in Wales

In 1908, having completed training as a teacher at the Ladies’ Training College at Cambridge, Alison became a physics teacher at the Fulham Secondary School for Girls. For her time, she received what many would consider reasonable earnings, starting on £120 a year, with increments thereafter of ten pounds per annum.

In 1911, she married James Uttley and in the years following, the two went first to live at the Old Vicarage, Knutsford, Cheshire. In 1914 Alison gave birth to her son, John Corin Uttley (1914-1978), and towards the end of 1918, James and Alison bought Downs House in Bowdon, Cheshire.

James served with the British Army in the First World War and during this time, Alison and her son lived in a cottage in South Wales. Alison struggled with loneliness through this period but found some comfort in the poetry of Walter de la Mare. She particularly became enamoured with his poem Arabia, which she originally bought as a coloured broadsheet and had nailed on the wall of the cottage:

‘Every day and several times a day as I went about my household duties, I read it. I was very lonely, cut off from libraries and from people I knew, my husband was in France, my beloved home far away, and this poem was a light shining in the Welsh wilderness. I sang the poem to my little son. It was the first poem he heard except nursery rhymes, and his first words were the chiming endings of the lines.’

(Uttley, Alison, Secret Places and Other Essays, 1972, p.116)

Towards the end of the war, Alison and John moved back to Cheshire, to live with the Uttley family at their house, ‘Southborne’, near Hale. Whilst living there, Alison spent a lot of her time feeling dejected. In one of her diary entries for 10 February 1933, she describes Southborne as “hateful” and she felt that she and John were “snubbed” by Alice Katherine (James’ sister who Alison, as made clear in her journal, did not get on with) and her husband.

Life while residing at Downs House, Bowdon, Altrincham

Towards the end of 1918, Alison and James bought Downs House, Bowdon, Altrincham (now 13 Higher Downs, Altrincham). This was an ‘ivy-covered early Victorian red brick house’ which was reflected in Alison’s Plowmen’s Clocks, described as having ‘an air of welcome in the empty rooms […] and the place was filled with warmth and goodness.’ (Plowmen’s Clocks, pp. 103-4). Built in 1851, Downs House was part of a property development in the lead up to the opening of the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway Company.

Serving in the War had a significant impact on James Uttley’s mental health, which deteriorated in the years ensuing. In September 1930 he took his own life, having drowned himself in the river Mersey. At the time James was a civil engineer working on the construction of a new bridge over the river at Northenden for the Manchester Corporation. The inquest into his death was held at Sale.

Consequent to being widowed, Alison needed to find another means of income to support her son’s school fees, and to ensure that the two of them could avoid living in poverty. She did so by pursuing a career in writing, and other attempts at bringing in extra money such as taking in lodgers, advertising her tutoring services and going to Manchester to sell a gold bracelet which James had given her.

Ordnance Survey map showing The Downs and Higher Downs, Cheshire Sheet XVIII.6 (surveyed in 1874, revised 1936-37), 1938. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. 96263121

In 1929, her children’s book, The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit was published. From there onwards, Alison became the author of a series of tales about animals and her writing blossomed. These tales included stories involving the characters, Little Grey Rabbit, the little Red Fox, Tim Rabbit and Sam Pig.

Alison enjoyed watching cricket matches. In later years, Alison developed a friendship with Lady Crossley and Lady Boyd-Dawkins and in one year she and Lady Crossley went to watch cricket together at Old Trafford (Lancashire Cricket Ground), and in 1932 she went to watch a match alone:

19 May: ‘A thrilling day at Old Trafford. I sat alone by the railing, enjoying every minute: the grass, the air, the speed, the rhythm of the game, and the brilliant batting of Paynter and the lightning fielding of Chapman. It was a tense, record-making day, big score, and a win by 9 wickets.’

(Alison Uttley’s Journal 1932, transcribed, annotated, and indexed by David Brady)

Moonshine and Magic by Alison Uttley, with illustrations by William Townsend (Faber and Faber Limited, 1932). Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. 30598

In 1931, her first manuscript, The Country Child, was published which catapulted her into success. Following this, Moonshine and Magic was published; copies of the book were delivered to her in Downs House on 15 September 1932. However, despite the excitement surrounding this positive life event, Alison mentions in one of her journals that after taking a copy to Foye to show the Coopers and no one was there but the maids, she and John ‘felt outside, nobodies, not wanted, and we slipped away without seeing any of them’. This is one example of the waves of despondency that Alison often felt.

Moonshine and Magic was well received. Alison and John had reason to celebrate as after this, she received a cheque for the book and the illustrations for The Story of Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog (illustrated by Margaret Tempest), which was to be published in the same year. To celebrate, the two went to Rylands Library in Manchester and Alison bought a copy of The Bridge.

A number of Alison’s stories passed through Downs House, whether this be in the form of drafts, proofs or publications. In addition to Moonshine and Magic and The Story of Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog, such stories included Candlelight Tales, Grey Rabbit’s Party, Ambush of Young Days, High Meadows and The Knot Squirrel Tied.

Alison’s work also managed to break through into radio broadcasting. In her journal entry for 2 March 1935, she informs that six of her children’s stories were accepted by the BBC (Wee Willie Winkie, Crooked Man, The Four Brothers, Lion and Unicorn, The Little Hen, and Cat and Fiddle). Alison continued to live at Downs House until 1938.

A selection of books written by Alison Uttley, and biographies. Trafford Local Studies collection

Moving to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

In 1938, Alison moved to a house named ‘Thackers’ in Beaconsfield, where she spent the rest of her life. A number of celebrities lived around the Beaconsfield area, including Walter de la Mare and Enid Blyton. Alison did not view Enid Blyton favourably, mainly, it seems, out of jealousy of her success.

In 1939, A Traveller in Time, Little Grey Rabbit’s Christmas and Tales of the Four Pigs and Brock the Badger were published. A Traveller in Time was one of the most successful pieces of her work and was met with favourable reviews. The story involved the Babingtons and a plot to rescue Mary Queen of Scots. In 1978, it was adapted into a BBC drama involving notable actors, including, Simon Gipps-Kent (appeared in Doctor Who and The Black Adder), Gerald James (The Man with the Golden Gun), Elizabeth Bradley (Coronation Street), and Heather Chasen (Crossroads).

The publication of Tales of the Four Pigs and Brock the Badger led to Alison writing twelve more books in the series. In 1940, she published Moldy Warp the Mole, and in 1941, Ten Tales of Tim Rabbit. Between 1945 and 1950, Alison wrote for a number of journals, including Child Education, Farmer’s Weekly, Good Housekeeping and Housewife. In addition, the first part of her play The Washerwoman’s Child was broadcast in 1947, and in later years, Sam Pig was translated to enter the German and Austrian markets. In 1948, one of Alison’s country reminiscence works, Carts and Candlesticks, was published.

In 1952, another country reminiscence book was published, Plowmen’s Clocks, and The Stuff of Dreams was published the following year. In 1966, Recipes from An Old Farmhouse was published, which was reviewed positively in newspapers. Alison continued to write into the mid-1970s.

Alison wrote over 100 books and in 1970 she was awarded a Doctor of Letters by Manchester University. On 7 May 1976, aged ninety-one, she passed away in High Wycombe hospital.

Sources

Alison Uttley, Alison Uttley’s Journal 1932-8: Living in Bowdon, ed. by David Brady [*held in the Trafford Local Studies Archives]

Alison Uttley Society, ‘About Alison Uttley’, <https://alisonuttley.co.uk/> [accessed 26 July 2021]

Altrincham, Bowdon and Hale Guardian, 3 October 1930 [*available to view on Microfilm at the Trafford Local Studies Centre]

Denis Judd, Alison Uttley: Creator of Little Grey Rabbit, (Sutton Publishing, 2001)

Denis Judd, Alison Uttley: The Life of a Country Child (Michael Joseph, 1986)

IMDb, ‘A Traveller in Time’, <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361249/> [accessed 28 July 2021]

‘The Country Magic of Alison Uttley’ This England, Summer, 1982, page 20

Trafford Lifetimes: https://apps.trafford.gov.uk/TraffordLifetimes/

Trafford Local Studies Centre