Just William? He’s just Britain at its brilliant best!
The little rascal has been delighting us for 100 years. Now the voice of the glorious audiobooks, MARTIN JARVIS, reveals the scrapes the stories have got him into – and says...
ONE hundred years ago, William Brown — better known as Just William — made his debut in a short story by Richmal Crompton. In the decades since he has entertained generations of children — and their parents. William has never really gone out of fashion but the actor and director, Martin Jarvis, can be credited with a resurgence of interest in the schoolboy and his gang of Outlaws, through his awardwinning broadcasts and audio recordings. Today, Jarvis continues to read the Just William stories live for theatre audiences. Here, he celebrates a true British hero.
AWOMAN was waiting for me outside the stage-door of Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End. She was brandishing a fistful of my Just William recordings, and as I emerged, she thrust them at me. ‘Could you sign these?’ she asked. ‘Of course.’ As I took the pen she said coyly: ‘ You know what?’ ‘No?’ I replied. ‘What?’ ‘I always take you to bed with me…’ Ah. I knew what she meant. William fans listen everywhere.
William Brown, star of the eponymous Just William books, was the Harry Potter of his day. But the sparky, intrepid, well-meaning, eternal 11-yearold with a keen sense of justice, continues to hold new generations in his thrall.
He lives on and on through his memorable adventures, scrapes and mishaps with his faithful friends, the Outlaws — chirpy Ginger, boffinous Henry, lugubrious Douglas (‘it’ll end in death’), forever tormented by lisping control-freak Violet Elizabeth Bott (‘I’ll thcream and thcream ’till I’m thick’).
William’s creator, Richmal Crompton, was the leading children’s author for generations. Her incredible best- selling writing span lasted 50 years to her death in 1969, during which she wrote nearly 40 William collections. But her books are not just for kids — William belongs to everybody.
It was one hundred years ago, in 1919, that the first William story — entitled Rice-Mould — appeared in the family-friendly Home Magazine. William’s mission in Rice-Mould: to steal a cream blancmange and deliver it to the little girl next door who’s fed up with rice pudding. Simple enough? Not quite.
First he has to sneak into the larder. Inevitably he gets locked in, along with the family cat. When he escapes, he races next door but finds that instead of blancmange, he’s purloined a virtually inedible rice pudding.
It was a dazzling debut! Mothers read it first, fell off their chairs with laughter, then read it to their offspring, who were soon reading William’s exploits for themselves.
Our hero’s literary future was assured and, as the success of the stories grew, so did William’s famous fans. Over the years, I’ve chatted about the insouciant young Brown with the great and the good, from Dame Norma Major and Terry Waite to Paul Merton.
Working with Jennifer Saunders the other day, I attempted to congratulate her on her Ab-Fab movie, but all she wanted to talk about was Just William.
Indeed, when I was lucky enough to be invested by HM the Queen, she mentioned ‘ William’ — and in happy confusion the conversation veered from one William to the other, her grandson.
So what do we know of the woman who created this iconic figure of children’s literature, and what is the secret of his lasting appeal?
Richmal Lamburn was a popular 27- year- old classics teacher at Bromley High School for Girls in Kent when she penned the first William story. Back then, there was an unwritten rule that the teachers shouldn’t have a second job. So she used her middle name, Crompton, as a pseudonym, believing nobody would ever know.
But her growing success compelled her to own up to the Headmistress. She confessed that she’d secretly been writing fiction — and was the creator of Just William.
The Head smiled with relief, gave her a hug and said: ‘My dear, we all know! We’re thrilled for you. Congratulations!’
WHOexactly inspired the character is unknown. Crompton was unmarried and had no children of her own. Her family believed that she drew on the personality of her younger brother, Jack, while others wondered if her lively nephew, Tommy, provided the blueprint.
When she was 32, Crompton contracted polio and had to give up teaching; in her 40s, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As her health failed and she became confined to a wheelchair, William leapt more and more into bizarre adventures in the fields and woods around his home and beyond.
Soon she was developing William’s unique imagination to a point where things, instead of always going wrong, could sometimes go triumphantly right.
Her more than 50-year journey of masterful prose and beautifully drawn character- comedy saw the William books span each decade. (Despite enjoying many birthdays, Christmases and countless school holidays, he never aged).
The Twenties, with William’s grownup sister, Ethel, in her cloche hats, doyenne of the tennis club dances; brother Robert, Brylcreemed manabout-the-village, sporting fashionable spats and writing poetry. The Thirties, with William’s search for spies reflecting a pre-war obsession.
Some of the finest collections were from these two periods, including William The Conqueror, which reflected pre-WWI imperialism, William’s Happy Days and William The Pirate.
Then, there was William in the next war, in which Robert and Ethel were serving in the Forces, and included titles such as William And The Evacuees, William And The Air Raid Precautions, and William Does His Bit.
It wasn’t until 1964 that William encountered the fearsome six-yearold Violet Elizabeth Bott as she tries to escape from her school in disguise. He asks: ‘What’s that on your head?’ She proudly replies, ‘It-th a wig. It-th a Beatleth wig!’
THEauthor’s perception of the absurdity and blessedness of British life rings bells everywhere. Almost no aspect of human behaviour escapes Crompton’s scalpel. Spiritualists, do- gooders, badtempered divas, know-it-all uncles, eccentric aunts, child stars, burglars, politicians.
All the good things of life feature too: school holidays, liquorice water and Jumble, William’s beloved mongrel: ‘ Jumble’s life consisted chiefly of an endless succession of shocks to the nerves.’
Crompton’s plotting is invariably unexpected, and psychologically accurate. If only we’d thought of that solution, Crompton and William were there before us.
A child reading (or listening to) the stories recognises that William does things you’d want to dare to do yourself, but perhaps never could. He’s ‘ doin’ good, ritin’ ’ rongs and pursuin’ happiness.’
Adults similarly appreciate that ambition and the innocence and the possibility. ‘“What’ll we do this morning?” said Ginger. It was sunny. It was holiday time. They had each other and a dog. Boyhood could not wish for more. The whole world lay before them. “Let’s go trespassin’,” said William.’
William is never one- dimensional and publishers have long been undecided how to describe him. Rapscallion? Not really. Mischievous scamp? Hmm. Lovable imp? Certainly not. Irrepressible? Fair enough. Fearless? Oh yes.
The year 1919 saw the introduction of other iconic characters. Crompton’s near-contemporary, P. G. Wodehouse, published My Man Jeeves in 1919 and William was to encounter several blithe young men (usually besotted by Ethel) who bore a jaunty resemblance to Bertie Wooster. William, though, like Jeeves, had the infinitely superior brain.
Other comparisons can be drawn in the story of the unexploded bomb, published in William Carries On in 1942, which surely prefigured Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army nearly 30 years later.
Today, Boris Johnson has frequently been compared to William. Perhaps he’s a William fan. Or has he merely based aspects of his capricious logic and unruly hair on our enterprising lateral-thinker?
‘When I’m prime minister everyone can do what they want…’ Boris or William? Could be either. In fact, Master Brown would have made the ultimate Liberal — or better yet, Independent.
It was back in the Nineties that I suggested to the BBC that we record some William readings. This seemed a good idea for a short series, so we went ahead. Soon, publishers realised that the broadcasts were
renewing interest in this extraordinary schoolboy. Great! New imprints were issued, and even my radio adaptations were published as Meet Just William.
Further programmes were commissioned and became awardwinning audio- bestsellers. I recently recorded two performances in front of live audiences for broadcast on Radio 4 in May.
Just William as stand- up? William would have taken to the one- man show like a duck to water. And often did: ‘Kin’ly note, Ladies an’ gentlemen, my impression of Gen’ral Moult, walkin’ down the road: kin’ly observe, lifelike and nat’ral…’
Audiences seem to find Crompton’s comic observation as relevant today as when William, in answer to the question ‘What’s your name?’, first replied: ‘Trevor Monkton.’
To summarise: here’s the overriding truth known to generations of Crompton’s readers and followers: William Brown is a genius. And his originality stems from the genius of his creator.
Yes,William is different. William, we now know, is timeless. His free-ranging mind encompasses just about every aspect of life.
When Crompton first introduced him in that short story a century ago, he wasn’t a completely rounded character yet. Nevertheless, she provided him with what was to become one of his major characteristics: how to bring happiness to another human being. And if the deserving creature is the sweet little girl next door, so much the better.
Indeed, the ‘ hard- boiled organ’ that was William’s heart was to be touched quite a few times in his decades- travelling future — though never by his nemesis Violet elizabeth.
Actually, Crompton is canny enough to provide our hero with many a nemesis (Hubert Lane who heads up a rival gang to the Outlaws; irate farmers; the Headmaster....) William, though, isn’t always sure what a Nemesis is.
‘“I must say,” said Mr Medway, “You seem to delight in making untrue statements. You’ll be overtaken by Nemesis one of these days.” ‘“No, I won’t,” said William. “I’m a better runner than she is and I can always beat her. We often have races. she’s very well.” ‘“Who is?” ‘“Nemmysis. The girl what you said was a better runner than me. I had a race with her yesterday, and I won.” ’ We all win with William. That woman at the theatre stage - door, by the way, couldn’t have been nicer or more complimentary.
As I was completing signing the recordings, she smiled and said: ‘You know what?’ ‘No, what?’ ‘ I’m always asleep in five minutes…’
I hope Richmal and William will keep us entertainingly awake for generations to come.
Martin Jarvis OBE will be performing Just William Live! on BBC radio 4 on May 1 and 8.