Flora Thompson Papers 1912-1965 (bulk 1921-1948)
4 boxes, 1 oversize folder (1.75 linear
feet)
TXRC97-A19
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University
of Texas at Austin
Thompson, Flora, 1876-1947
The collection contains typescripts, including
manuscripts for all of Thompson's published novels, as well as several unpublished
works, magazine leaves, correspondence, scrapbooks, clippings, photocopies, woodcut
illustrations, and photographs.
Acquisition:
Purchase, 1967 (#3561); Gift, 1993 (#10058)
Access:
Open for research
Processed by:
Stephen Mielke, 1997
The correspondence found in this collection consists mainly of photocopies of
Thompson’s letters to Arthur and Anna Ball from 1931 to 1947. The originals of this
correspondence are held at The University of Exeter Library in England, and
permission to copy or quote these letters must be obtained from Exeter.
Biographical Sketch
Flora Jane (Timms) Thompson was born December 5, 1876 (some sources state 1877), at
Juniper Hill, Oxfordshire, England, to Albert Timms, a stone mason, and Emma Timms,
a nursemaid. A voracious reader as a child, Flora Timms grew up with five younger
siblings in a stern and impoverished household headed by an alcoholic father. At age
14, she left home to become a post office clerk in a nearby village where she
continued her education through reading, writing, and observing the surrounding
countryside in her off time. She worked in several post offices before meeting and
marrying John Thompson, a fellow clerk, in 1903.
Flora Thompson left the postal service after her marriage and gave birth to a
daughter, Winifred, in 1903 and a son, Henry, in 1909. She continued to write while
raising her children and was first published after winning a literary essay contest
in
The Ladies Companion magazine. One year later her
first short story appeared in the same publication. During World War I, the Thompson
family moved to Liphook and Flora Thompson rejoined the post office. She gave birth
to another son, Peter, in 1918, but continued to write, and in 1920 began publishing
short stories in The Catholic Fireside magazine. In
1921 she started a series of articles titled Out of
Doors that focused on changes in the seasons and nature conservancy. In
1922, she changed the title of these monthly essays to The Peverel Papers, and they appeared in The
Catholic Fireside until 1927. Thompson also wrote The Fireside Reading Circle series from 1923 to
1925 which focused on the study of English literature and literary figures. She
ended this series when she began The Peverel Society, a correspondence club that
offered literary instruction and criticism to its members from 1925 to 1941.
Thompson's first published book was a collection of poems titled
Bog Myrtle and Peat (1921). After its publication she
continued to publish journal articles and work at the post office with her husband.
In 1928, the Thompsons moved to Devon and she began to focus her article writing on
her childhood memories. Using these articles as a basis, she published her first
novel, a fictionalized autobiography titled Lark Rise
in 1939. She continued the biographical theme in her next two works Over to Candleford (1941) and Lark Rise to Candleford (1943). These three novels received great
critical praise as historical accounts of the economic, social, and cultural life of
pre-industrial rural Oxfordshire and were published under one cover in 1945 as
Lark Rise to Candleford. Thompson's advancing
age, the trials of World War II, and the death of her youngest son in the war wore
heavily on her while writing these novels. She died at Devon in 1947, but not before
finishing a continuation of her first three books titled Still Glides the Stream, published posthumously in 1948. Yet another
biographical work, Heatherly, was written in 1944 but
was not published until 1979 along with selected articles from The Catholic Fireside in A
Country Calendar and Other Writings. Other Thompson articles from The Catholic Fireside were published in the 1986 book
The Peverel Papers.
Index Terms
People
Brown, Evelyn Scott
Lamb, Lynton
Lane, Margaret
Subjects
Authors, English, 20th century
Country life, England, History, 19th century
Places
Hampshire (England), Social life and customs
Oxfordshire (England), Social life and
customs
Document Types
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Sources:
Additional information on Flora Thompson and her works can be found in:
Flora Thompson: The Story of the Lark Rise Writer by
Gillian Lindsay (London: Robert Hale, 1990).
Flora Thompson by Margaret Lane (London: J. Murray,
1976).
Provenance:
The bulk of the Thompson papers were purchased in 1967 from Winifred Money, the
literary executor for the estate of Winifred Thompson, Flora Thompson's daughter.
Photocopies of correspondence from Flora Thompson to Arthur and Anna Ball and H.J.
Massingham were donated in 1993 by Thompson biographer Gillian Lindsay.
Scope and Contents
Typescripts, magazine leaves, correspondence, scrapbooks, clippings, photocopies,
woodcut illustrations, and photographs reflect the literary activities of Flora
Thompson from 1912 until her death in 1947. Included among these materials are items
collected by Thompson's daughter, Winifred, that document the publication of
Thompson's works from the time of her death up to 1965.
The papers have been organized into four series: I. Works, 1912-1948 (15 folders);
II. The Peverel Society, 1936, n.d. (4 folders); III. Correspondence, 1921-1965,
n.d. (bulk 1931-1947) (5 folders); and IV. Scrapbooks, 1921-1965, n.d. (6 folders).
The bulk of the collection, contained in the Works series, consists of typed
manuscripts with handwritten editorial corrections. Included are manuscripts for all
of Thompson's published novels, as well as several unpublished works. Most of these
pieces are represented by one full draft manuscript, although some early draft
fragments are present, as are a large number of articles that Thompson published in
various magazines and later adapted for use in her novels.
The correspondence found in this collection consists mainly of photocopies of
Thompson's letters to Arthur and Anna Ball from 1931 to 1947. The originals of this
correspondence are held at The University of Exeter Library in England and
permission to copy or quote these letters must be obtained from Exeter.
The earliest materials, dating from 1912 to 1920 are magazine articles written for
The Lady's Companion, The
Literary Monthly, and The Catholic
Fireside, but the bulk of the collection coincides with the publication of
Thompson's first book in 1921 through her death in 1947, and subsequent publication
of Still Glides the Stream in 1948. Materials dating
after 1947 were collected by Thompson's daughter.
Series Descriptions
Series I. Works, 1912-1948 (15 folders)
Flora Thompson's literary works are documented in this series with hand edited
typescripts of her published novels
Lark Rise
(1939), Over to Candleford (1941), Candleford Green (1943), Still Glides the Stream (1948) and Heatherly, which was written in 1944 but not published until 1979 in
A Country Calendar and Other Writings. Also
present are typescripts for several unpublished and unfinished works as well as
many unidentified fragments. Unfortunately, only preliminary draft fragments
exist for Lark Rise, and there is no manuscript
for her first publication, a collection of poetry titled Bog Myrtle and Peat. Many of the manuscripts were typed on the
verso of used sheets of paper due to shortages caused by World War II.
Thompson's journalistic writing is well reflected by the presence of a large
number of printed magazine short stories and articles written by Thompson
between 1912 and 1927 for
The Lady's Companion,
The Literary Monthly, and The Catholic Fireside. Included in these torn-out
magazine leaves are three series of articles titled Out of Doors,
The Peverel Papers, and The Fireside Reading Circle.
The materials in this series are arranged chronologically as novels or as
articles. The materials grouped as novels are dated by their year of publication
or by the approximate year they were written if unpublished. Many of the
materials grouped as articles have no identifiable date, therefore they are
arranged by approximate date under each publication or series title. The
remaining items in the series, identified and arranged as received, consist of
one 1935 desk calendar containing hand written children's poems; five undated
short stories identified as
Early Free Lance
Journalism; and one folder of typed and hand written fragments
labeled Poetry and Prose.
Series II. The Peverel Society, 1936, n.d. (4
folders)
The materials of the Peverel Society, started in 1925 by Flora Thompson and
Mildred Humble-Smith, consist largely of undated, typed short stories by
Thompson and other members of the Society. Several of the Thompson stories also
appeared as magazine articles. One example,
The
Tail-less Fox, is present in this series in both typescript and
printed form. Also found in these materials is a six-lesson verse writing course
written by Thompson. The three remaining items in the series are a sheet of
letterhead, an advertising brochure for the society, and The Peverel Book of Verse, a small book of 56 poems by Society
members, selected and edited by Thompson. The materials are arranged as they
were received.
Series III. Correspondence, 1921-1965, n.d. (bulk 1931-1947)
(5 folders)
The majority of this series consists of photocopies of outgoing correspondence
from Flora Thompson to Arthur and Anna Ball dated from 1931 to 1947. Thompson
first began corresponding with this couple through The Peverel Society and
continued to exchange letters until her death. Also present is a photocopy of
one letter to H.J. Massingham discussing his introduction for
Lark Rise to Candleford, and the original of a
letter from Thompson to a Mrs. Oldacre dated 1921 (the only letter in the series
written in Thompson's hand).
Incoming correspondence from 1938 to 1946 includes one 1938 letter from the
illustrator Lynton Lamb regarding his work for
Lark
Rise. The remainder of the folder contains letters from Oxford
University Press discussing the publication of Thompson's novels.
In addition to the Thompson correspondence there is one folder of correspondence
to her daughter Winifred, from 1947-1965, concerning posthumous publications of
Flora Thompson's works.
All outgoing correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient, then
chronologically. The Ball correspondence contains a chronological listing in the
front of its folder. Permission to copy or quote from the Ball or Massingham
correspondence must be obtained from The University of Exeter in England. The
remaining correspondence is arranged chronologically as incoming or as Winifred
Thompson's.
IV. Scrapbooks, 1921-1965, n.d. (6 folders)
This series consists of six hand held sketch books containing clippings and
notices regarding each of Thompson's published books. Five of the scrapbooks
focus on one book each:
Bog Myrtle and Peat,
Over to Candleford,
Candleford Green,
Lark Rise to Candleford, and Still Glides the Stream. The remaining scrapbook is
not titled, but focuses largely on Lark Rise,
although it also contains materials pre-dating Lark
Rise and post-dating Thompson's death up to 1965. Among its contents are
six black and white photographs of buildings in Juniper Hill taken in the early
1950s, and woodcut prints by Joan Hassall, Lynton Lamb, and Julie Neild.
The
Lark Rise to Candleford scrapbook contains
clippings relating to that novel, obituaries for Flora Thompson and two letters
to her daughter Winifred. The Still Glides the
Stream scrapbook holds review clippings and four black and white
photographs of Juniper Hill buildings, all of which post date Thompson's death.
It is likely that Winifred Thompson created the scrapbooks that contain
materials post-dating Flora Thompson's death and may have created them all.
The scrapbooks are arranged in chronological order according to the earliest
material contained in each.
Flora Thompson Papers--Folder List
Series I. Works, 1912-1948
1
Novels
1
Gates of Eden, ca.
1933
1
1
Chapters 1-8
1
2
Chapters 9-18
1
3
Chapters 19-29
1
Lark Rise
(1939)
1
4
Preliminary draft fragments
1
5
Over to Candleford (1941)
1
Candleford Green (1943)
1
6
Preliminary draft fragments (also includes fragments of
Heatherly and Still Glides the Stream)
1
7
Dashpers, ca. 1944
1
Heatherly, ca. 1944
1
8
Chapters 1-6
1
9
Chapters 7-11
1
10-11
Preliminary draft fragments (see also box 1 folder
6)
2
Still Glides the Stream
(1948)
2
1
Chapters 1-4
2
2
Chapters 5-13
2
3
Preliminary draft fragments (see also box 1 folder
6)
2
4
The Stithy, n.d.
2
5
Unidentified fragments, n.d.
2
Articles
2
6
The Lady's Companion, 1912-1914
2
7
The Literary Monthly [1913]
2
8
The Catholic Fireside, 1920,
n.d.
2
9
Out of Doors,
1921
2
10
The Peverel Papers,
ca. 1922-1927
2
11
The Fireside Reading Circle,
ca. 1923-25
2
12
The Silent Piano,
n.d.
3
1
Children's Poems, 1935?
3
2
Early freelance journalism, n.d.
3
3
Poetry & Prose, n.d.
Series II. The Peverel Society, 1936, n.d.
3
4
Stories, 1936, n.d.
3
5
Verse writing course, n.d.
3
6
The Peverel Book of Verse,
n.d.
3
7
Miscellaneous, n.d.
Series III. Correspondence, 1921-1965, n.d. (bulk 1931-1947)
3
8
Ball, 1931-1947, n.d.
3
9
Massingham, 1944
3
10
Oldacre, 1921
3
11
Incoming, 1938-1946, n.d.
3
12
Winifred Thompson, 1947-1965,
n.d.
Series IV. Scrapbooks, 1921-1965, n.d.
4
1
Bog Myrtle and Peat, 1921
4
2
[Lark Rise], 1921-1965, n.d.
4
3
Over to Candleford, 1941
4
4
Candleford Green, 1943
4
5
Lark Rise to Candleford, 1945-1950
4
6
Still Glides the Stream, 1948-1950
Flora Thompson Papers--Index of Correspondents
Names in bold appear in the RLIN record.
-
Brown, Evelyn Scott [to Winifred
Thompson]--3.12
-
Cumberlege, Geoffrey (Oxford University Press)--3.11, 3.12
-
Humphreys, Paul (British Broadcasting Corp.) [to Winifred
Thompson]--4.5
-
Lamb, Lynton--3.11
-
Lane, Margaret [to Winifred
Thompson]--3.12
-
Lister, Louise [to Winifred Thompson]--4.5
-
Money, Winifred [to Lady Huntingdon/Margaret Lane]--1.8
-
Morris, M.E.L. (University Microfilms, Ltd.) [to Winifred
Thompson]--3.12
-
Thompson, Winifred [to unidentified]--4.2
-
Williams, John L. (Oxford University Press) [to Winifred
Thompson]--3.12