Obituary: Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE, writer

Josephine Pullein-Thompson was a widely acknowledged and popular author of children’s books, devoting much of her output to horses and ponies. She continued to publish books into her late eighties having started with It Began With Picotee, which she co-wrote with her sisters, Christine and Diana. They came from a literary family and the sisters not only wrote extensively but ran their own riding school in Berkshire. Josephine combined a great love for horses and a fine ability as a wordsmith to inspire generations of pony club members with her own enthusiasm.

All Pullein-Thompson’s books were relaxing, informative and aimed at instilling in their young readers a love of ponies. Her prose style was involving and held a young reader’s interest through its compelling storyline and the way she painted the characters.

She was certainly from the Enid Blyton school and the joy of telling the story was always paramount. After a pony club competition there was a “supersonic tea” and red rosettes were pinned to saddles with pride.

The family had long-standing Scottish connections: it is thought one of Josephine’s forefathers had fought in the Jacobite rising and at Culloden. Many of her mother’s books (written under name of Joanna Cannan) were set in Scotland, notably Hamish: The Story of a Shetland Pony with delightful drawings by Anne Bullen.

Josephine Mary Wedderburn Pullein-Thompson was the daughter of a distinguished soldier, Harold J Pullein-Thompson, MC, and her novelist mother Joanna Cannan.

Pullein-Thompson had twin sisters and they were brought up in some comfort near Henley-on-Thames. Their father had been badly injured during the First World War and found work as a travelling salesman for refrigerators.

Her mother kept the family finances healthy through her writing. However, the unconventional lifestyle and schooling was somewhat reduced when school fees could not be paid and Josephine and her sisters opened and ran The Grove Riding School which proved commercially successful – and provided endless inspiration for her future books.

Her schooling may have been sparse but Josephine was a voracious reader. “At sixteen,” she once wrote, “I was passionate about the novels of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope and then I discovered social history, which is still one of my interests.”

It Began with Picotee was published in 1946 and relied on much of the sisters’ love of horses and fellow horse owners. In the immediate post-war years many young people were returning to riding for fun and entering local gymkhanas. Pullein-Thompsons’ books appeared at an ideal time.

Her first solo story, Six Ponies (1946), had been written while she was on the roof of the telephone exchange in Reading during the war, where she was a telephone engineer.

It was set in the New Forest and the drama centred around six pony club members having to steal the ponies in different ways. Pullein-Thompsons’s skill as a story teller was the way she gave a personality and identity to the children and the ponies.

Over the years the Pullein-Thompson books became so popular that the sisters closed the riding school and wrote for the next 30 years. Many of Josephine’s books were to enchant generations of avid readers. The West Barsetshire Pony Club books brought her particular renown and readers christened them the Noel and Henry books.

As a dedicated horsewoman Pullein-Thompson was keen to include information about riding, maintaining horses and equine etiquette in her books. These side issues were never allowed to interfere with the main thrust of the stories and she always conveyed a genuine passion for horses and riding.

In 1994 she wrote her final book (A Job With Horses), having written more than 30 in total – virtually one a year. In fact, her last book was co-written with her sisters, as was the first. Fair Girls and Grey Horses, published in 1999, was strongly autobiographical.

Pullein-Thompson also wrote many well-received crime novels and was generous of her time – touring the country giving talks to schools and pony clubs.

She did much to enliven and renew interest in the English PEN society, which does much to support writers. As its general secretary from 1976 to 1993 she organised lively dinners with an imaginative rota of speakers.

Josephine Pullein-Thompson, who was awarded the MBE in 1984, listed her recreations as gardening, theatre and travel. About domestic life she was less enthusiastic, once saying: “I’m too busy reading to do the ironing.”

She never married, but for many years enjoyed the companionship of the circuit judge and writer Anthony Babington. She is survived by her sister Diana.