Oxenham Non-Connectors Explained
Non-Connectors are titles by Elsie J. Oxenham that do not connect into her main Abbey Series.
There are four of these series, they have no connections with each other, or with any of EJO's other books. They are shown below in best reading order (which does not always accord with publication order) except for the Scottish Sequence (see Notes 4 & 5):
The Deb Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|
| D1 | Deb at School | 1929 | Chambers | Nina K. Brisley |
| D2 | Deb of Sea House | 1931 | Chambers | Nina K. Brisley |
| D3 | Deb Leads the Dormitory[1] | 1993 | Woodfield | Audrey Lee | |
Deb at School was first published as a 12-part serial 'St. Margaret's' in the magazine
Schooldays Weekly from November 1928 until January 1929. It explores the relationship between Deb, a new girl at St. Margaret's School in Sussex, and Chloe, a senior to whom she gives admiration. Chloe is not worthy of the 'crush' – although other juniors have also fallen under her spell – and lets Deb down very badly. But Deb forgives her and she is redeemed at the end.
Deb of Sea House brings in two much younger juniors, who themselves have a crush on Deb. How she deals with this, and comes to realise, through the head girl, Selina, that the admiration of juniors for seniors can be beneficial if the influence is used for good purposes, provides the main theme for this title. In
Deb Leads the Dormitory, Deb herself becomes dormitory prefect, and has to help Chloe with a young cousin, Claudia, who has just joined the school knowing nothing of Chloe's shady past. This title did not find a publisher in Oxenham's lifetime, but was published by her niece in 1993.
The Jinty Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|
| J1 | The Tuckshop Girl | 1916 | Chambers | H Earnshaw |
| J2 | The Reformation of Jinty | 1933 | Chambers | Rene Cloke |
| J3 | Jinty's Patrol | 1934 | Newnes | not credited |
| J4 | A Divided Patrol[2] | 1992 | Woodfield | 'Ros' | |
In this series Oxenham picks up threads from a story she had published sixteen years earlier.
Tuckshop Girl tells how Jinty arrives at a school in the western suburbs of London from the
Scottish Highlands. Her catastrophic introduction is redeemed by her good intentions, and Prue, the 'tuckshop girl' of the title, helps her to integrate into the school. Later titles bring Jinty herself more to the fore, and Prue is kept in the background, though the final title gives a satisfactory end to her story. It is probable that Oxenham was being pressed by publishers for more 'schoolgirl' type stories, and took a schoolgirl character from an earlier book and tried to develop her story and character.
Reformation of Jinty and
Jinty's Patrol were published at about the same time that Oxenham was developing characters from her
Abbey Series into adulthood, whereas her publishers were looking to sell to a younger audience.
Divided Patrol did not find a publisher in Oxenham's lifetime, but was published by her niece in 1992.
The Scottish Sequence
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|
| Sc1 | Goblin Island | 1907 | Collins g[3] | Heath Robinson |
| Sc2 | A Princess in Tatters | 1908 | Collins | Frank Adams |
| Sc3 | A Holiday Queen | 1910 | Collins | T. J. Overnell |
| Sc4 | Schoolgirls and Scouts | 1914 | Collins | Arthur Dixon |
| Sc5 | Finding her Family[4] | 1915 | S.P.C.K. | W. S. Stacey |
| Sc6 | Twins of Castle Charming[5] | 1920 | Swarthmore Press | none | |
Of the six titles in this series, four are set largely in Scotland:
Goblin Island is set on 'Loch Avie', a fictionalised
Loch Lomond;
Princess in Tatters is set on 'Loch Ruel', which may be
Loch Fyne;
A Holiday Queen is set at 'Morven' on what appears to be
Loch Long; and
Schoolgirls and Scouts is set at 'Glenleny', which also seems to be on Loch Long, but a bit further up the loch.
Twins of Castle Charming – perhaps Oxenham's rarest title – is set largely in
Switzerland, whereas
Finding Her Family has some early scenes set in
Ealing and mainly takes place in
Saltburn. The connections between these titles is rather tenuous, there being no single character or place that appears in all six. Jill Colquhoun from
Goblin Island reappears in
Twins of Castle Charming and
Schoolgirls and Scouts. Eilidh the 'Princess' from
Princess in Tatters also appears in
Schoolgirls and Scouts and plays an important role in
Twins of Castle Charming. Larry Avery appears in both
Princess and
Twins. Lexa Stewart is the main character of
Holiday Queen and reappears briefly in
Schoolgirls and Scouts. Monica Howard has an important role in
Holiday Queen and reappears in both
Schoolgirls and
Finding her Family. Melany and Blanche Merrill are the main characters in
Twins of Castle Charming and reappear as minor characters in
Schoolgirls and Scouts. Elspeth Buchanan is the main character of
Schoolgirls and Scouts, which tells of her feud and reconciliation with Mysie and Madge Campbell. The school – never named, but its headmistress is Miss Johnson – which is the setting for the first chapters of both
Schoolgirls and
Twins, has among its pupils Jill, Melany, Monica and Elspeth, and later Jill's sister Sheila, introduced in
Goblin Island, and Mysie and Madge from
Schoolgirls.
Isolated Titles
(listed in order of publication)
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|
| Is1 | The Conquest of Christina | 1909 | Collins | G. B. Foyster |
| Is2 | Rosaly's New School | 1913 | Chambers e[6] | T. J. Overnell |
| Is3 | At School with the Roundheads | 1915 | Chambers | H. Earnshaw |
| Is4 | Expelled From School | 1919 | Collins | Victor Prost |
| Is5 | The Girls of Gwynfa | 1924 | Warne | Nina K. Brisley |
| Is6 | Dorothy's Dilemma | 1930 | Chambers | Nina K. Brisley |
| Is7 | Sylvia of Sarn | 1937 | Warne | not credited | |
Conquest of Christina,
Girls of Gwynfa and
Sylvia of Sarn are set in Wales, a favourite holiday destination for the Dunkerley family.
[7] Rosaly's New School is set in
Goathland, Yorkshire, and
At School with the Roundheads set at 'Redburn', an amalgam of Saltburn and
Redcar.
Expelled from School is set in
Switzerland and
Dorothy's Dilemma in
Sussex, both favourite settings which Oxenham used frequently.
[8] Footnotes
See also The Elsie J. Oxenham Society/Abbey Chronicle web site, which has extra notes on how the series fit together.
Notes and References
- In the early 1990s, Elsie J. Oxenham's niece discovered some unpublished manuscripts among her aunt's papers. Two of these were published shortly afterwards, as they continued series in which earlier titles had appeared during Oxenham's lifetime. This was the second title to be published (see note to J4).
- This title was the first to be published of the manuscripts found with EJO's papers (see note to D3).
- The letter 'g' in the publication box indicates that this title was republished in paperback by Girls Gone By Publishers
- Finding Her Family is not set in Scotland, but includes the character Monica Howard, who also appears in Sc3 and Sc4.
- Twins of Castle Charming comes between Sc3 and Sc4 in terms of series chronology, so is probably best read in that place rather than after the other titles. It is not set in Scotland, but largely in Switzerland. Characters from the preceding titles appear in various scenes during the book, and events from it are recalled by characters in Sc4.
- The letter 'e' in the publication box indicates that this title was republished in paperback by the EJO Society/Abbey Chronicle
- Oxenham's real name was Dunkerley, see Elsie J. Oxenham for more information on her family.
- see Oxenham's Swiss Set and her Sussex Set and Woody Dean Set as well as several titles in the main Abbey Series which were set at least partly in these two places.
