Abbey Connectors
Encyclopedia
Abbey Connectors are titles by Elsie J. Oxenham
that connect into her main Abbey Series
They fall into several sub-series, listed here in best reading order, with the Abbey Titles they relate to shown in their place in the mini-series, but without publication details, which are on the main Abbey Series page:
The Camp Keema Series introduces Maribel Ritchie (later Marchwood) and Rosalind Firth. The first two books in this series, Crisis in Camp Keema and Peggy and the Brotherhood, are set in a fictionalised Worthing
, Sussex
. The third, Camp Mystery, is set at Talloires
on Lake Annecy
, France
and introduces Cecily Brown (later Perowne). These three characters enter the Abbey Series in The Abbey Girls Play Up (once more, set mainly in Sussex
) and appear again, or are referred to, at intervals later in that series. The publication dates are interesting; Oxenham refers in Abbey Girls Play Up (1930) to events in Cecily Brown's earlier life, which were not fully described until Camp Mystery was published two years later. Indeed the version of her story given in Play Up, while naturally being simplifed - one cannot relate the whole plot in detail when summarising events for a new acquaintance - misses several important features which Oxenham may not have thought of until she actually came to write Camp Mystery, the book that covers these events, a year or two after writing Play Up. Then, four years later again, she returned to the period between Crisis (1928) and Mystery (1932) and wrote Peggy (1936) which fills in events concerning Rosalind's younger brother and sister, John and Gina, as well as introducing new characters Peggy and Sharly, and letting us see more of Maribel's school life.
The Kentisbury Series is much more closely tied into the Abbey Series. Patch and a Pawn introduces Patricia (Patch) Paterson (later Kane), Rhoda, Geoff, Bill and Rosalie Kane, Tansy Lillico and Roger Black. It is set in and around 'Kentisbury Castle', a fictionalised Arundel
, Sussex
. Rhoda and Rosalie reappear in Rosamund's Tuckshop, also set in Sussex, at Washington
. Bill, Patch and Roger reppear in Secrets of Vairy. set at 'Vairy Castle', a fictionalised Knockderry Castle
on Loch Long
, Scotland
. Tansy reappears in Rosamund's Castle, once again set at Washington and Kentisbury/Arundel, and Jandy Mac Comes Back is also set mainly at Kentisbury. Bill and Patch as newly-weds appear in Song of the Abbey; the scenes in which they appear are set at Kentisbury, although the main action of the book takes place at The Abbey in Oxfordshire
. These characters are all mentioned in several books in the main Abbey Series published and set after Rosamund's Tuckshop.
The Quellyn/Woodend Series provides an awkward problem of internal chronology within Oxenham's various book series. The main Abbey Series can be dated to within a year or two by events in the real world that are mentioned in Girls of the Hamlet Club, although it is recognised that there are anachronisms in the Retrospective Series. But in The Girl Who Wouldn't Make Friends we are introduced to Robin (Robertina Brent, later Quellyn) and Gwyneth Morgan (later Lloyd) as twelve-year-olds; although the story starts in the London suburbs, most of the action takes place at 'Quellyn' and Nefyn
on the Llŷn Peninsula
in North Wales
. The next part of their story is told in Rosamund's Tuckshop and Rosamund's Castle, both in the main Abbey Series when they are seventeen or so, about five years later in 'Abbey Time', but which were published eighteen and nineteen years later respectively. These two books are set at 'Wood End School' in Washington
, Sussex
. Robin's romance and marriage are described in Robins in the Abbey, published in 1947, and set mainly in Oxfordshire
at 'The Abbey' and at 'Quellyn', but in 1957 Oxenham returned to Robin's school career, and produced New Girls at Wood End, a book about Robin's time as Head Girl, set in the spring following Rosamund's Castle.
The world of 1909, in which 'motors' can be driven across fields and through gated lanes by a twelve-year-old Gwyneth, and where a telegram is brought from the post office in the nearest town by bicycle, contrasts starkly with the air crash that features in Robins in the Abbey and the car accident and BBC news bulletins of New Girls at Wood End - and with the ownership and use of the telephone in the latter two titles as a normal and common feature.
A Go-Ahead Schoolgirl takes place during the World War I
at Rocklands School in Yorkshire
. The description of the area has more in common with Froggatt Edge
in Derbyshire
, but Oxenham is well-known for her 'translocation' of places to fit the story. It tells of Rena (Andrena) Mackay (later Courtney) and her friend Nancy Morrell, and their time at school. When Rena's father is killed in the War, she must find a career. The headmistress's sister, who owns Rocklands House, helps her, and another friend, Lisabel (Elisabel) Durrant (also later Courtney - they marry brothers), to become gardeners, and sends them to Swanley
to train. Tickles tells of a new junior at the School, Tekla (Tickles) and her amazement at the school which moves every spring from Sheffield
to the moors at Rocklands and returns each autumn. Jen of the Abbey School - also considered part of the main Abbey Series, continues the story of Tekla's school career and describes how the girls of Rocklands meet Jen Robins (later Marchwood) of the Abbey Series. Rosamund's Victory continues the story of Rena and Lisabel and describes their engagements. Lisabel, by this time married with a baby daughter, also plays a significant role in New Girls at Wood End (see the Quellyn/Woodend series above). Betty McLean, head girl of Rocklands in Tickles and Jen, comes into the main Abbey Series in Abbey Girls at Home and appears or is mentioned in many later titles in that series.
The Rachel & Damaris/Rainbows Series is another example of how Oxenham combines series and characters, weaving in and out of the main Abbey Series. Maidlin to the Rescue was published in 1934, and tells of Maidlin's previously unknown cousins, Rachel and Damaris, and how Maidlin overcomes their resistance to being 'adopted' by her and brings them back to The Abbey. Damaris at Dorothy's, published three years later, returns to the schooldays of Rachel and Damaris and gives the back story of their relationship with Philippa (Pip) Russell, who plays a crucial part in the plot of Maidlin to the Rescue. Damaris Dances was written in response to Oxenham's publishers' wish for a 'ballet book'. Apparently it took several years and many revisions, since Oxenham was not a ballet expert. It covers the period in the main Abbey Series from just before Joy's New Adventure to just after Maidlin Bears the Torch. Rachel and Damaris have a cameo in Two Joans in the Abbey and appear briefly in Abbey Champion as bridesmaids at Maidlin's wedding to Jock Robertson. From Guardians of the Abbey onwards, their characters are fully integrated into the main Abbey Series.
Adventure for Two takes the Rainbows series in a different direction. It takes place partly concurrently with, and just after, Damaris Dances. Two sisters, Daphne and Elsa Dale, make different decisions after the death of their aunt. Daphne continues her ballet training in London, and comes to know Damaris and take part in her ballet 'The Goose Girl'. Elsa returns to 'Hillside', near 'Sandylands' - a fictionalised Uphill
, near Weston-super-Mare
- to live in the cottage their aunt has left to her. The rest of the series introduces Nancybell Morgan (later Farnham), Margery Paine (later Woodburn), Gilbert and Annamaria Seymour, and the 'Rose sisters'. Pernel Wins and Daring Doranne tie into this series in that the characters in Pernel, Pernel Richard herself, Juliet Joyes and Gwen Baldwin come to live at 'Rainbow Corner' at the beginning of Doranne, and the village Doranne founds, also called 'Rainbows', is where the 'Roses' live, and where Margery Paine comes to make her new beginning. The Roses join the main Abbey Series in Fiddler for the Abbey, and news of the other characters is given in some of the later books in the Abbey Series. Mistress Nanciebel, published in 1910, tells the story of 'the ancestress' of Gilbert and Annamaria Seymour, and of Nancybell Morgan. Here, Oxenham has created a family history for her modern characters by using details from another of her books, published over thirty years earlier.
These three sets, Sussex, Swiss and Woody Dean, are closely connected to each other, as may be seen by the titles they share. The village of 'Woody Dean', the setting for the Woody Dean Set, is a fictionalised Rottingdean
in East Sussex
, and the nearby school may be based on Roedean School
. The Sussex Set takes place mainly in Pagham
though it is never named, and the cathedral city mentioned in the text as 'Eldingham' must be intended as Chichester
. Troubles of Tazy and Patience and her Problems both take place largely in Switzerland
, either at the St John's & St Mary's Schools complex where the earlier books in the Swiss Set are based, or in the nearby hostel for girls and ladies, and characters from all three sets appear in these two titles.
A School Camp Fire is another of those titles that Oxenham 'revisited', to take characters and bring them into books she wrote later. Several main characters from it attend Helen Robinson's wedding inSchool of Ups and Downs but it has no connection otherwise, and cannot be said to form part of a real series. As a book, it is in itself split into four sub-sections each of which tells a discrete story, though the characters of Priscilla, Katharine and Dorothy-Anne are present throughout the book.
Characters from the Swiss Set also appear or are mentioned in the Camp Keema Series and in the Abbey Series itself, which gives the only connection these titles have with the main series.
Elsie J. Oxenham
Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley , was an English girls' story writer, who took the name Oxenham as her pseudonym when her first book, Goblin Island, was published in 1907. Her Abbey Series of 38 titles are her best-known and best-loved books...
that connect into her main Abbey Series
They fall into several sub-series, listed here in best reading order, with the Abbey Titles they relate to shown in their place in the mini-series, but without publication details, which are on the main Abbey Series page:
Camp Keema Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CK1 | The Crisis In Camp Keema | 1928 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
| CK2 | Peggy and The Brotherhood | 1936 | R.T.S./G.O.P. †g | not credited |
| CK3 | The Camp Mystery | 1932 | Collins †g | not credited |
| CK4 | The Abbey Girls Play Up | also part of the main Abbey Series |
The Camp Keema Series introduces Maribel Ritchie (later Marchwood) and Rosalind Firth. The first two books in this series, Crisis in Camp Keema and Peggy and the Brotherhood, are set in a fictionalised Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. The third, Camp Mystery, is set at Talloires
Talloires
Talloires is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-Geography:Talloires is located south of Geneva, Switzerland, on Lake Annecy and from the local "prefecture" Annecy, near the border of Italy...
on Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy
Lake Annecy is a perialpine lake in Haute-Savoie in France .It is the second largest lake in France, after the Lac du Bourget, if the French part of Lake Geneva is excluded. It is known as "Europe's cleanest lake" because of strict environmental regulations introduced in the 1960s...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and introduces Cecily Brown (later Perowne). These three characters enter the Abbey Series in The Abbey Girls Play Up (once more, set mainly in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
) and appear again, or are referred to, at intervals later in that series. The publication dates are interesting; Oxenham refers in Abbey Girls Play Up (1930) to events in Cecily Brown's earlier life, which were not fully described until Camp Mystery was published two years later. Indeed the version of her story given in Play Up, while naturally being simplifed - one cannot relate the whole plot in detail when summarising events for a new acquaintance - misses several important features which Oxenham may not have thought of until she actually came to write Camp Mystery, the book that covers these events, a year or two after writing Play Up. Then, four years later again, she returned to the period between Crisis (1928) and Mystery (1932) and wrote Peggy (1936) which fills in events concerning Rosalind's younger brother and sister, John and Gina, as well as introducing new characters Peggy and Sharly, and letting us see more of Maribel's school life.
Kentisbury Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K1 | Patch and a Pawn | 1940 | Warne | not credited |
| K2 | Rosamund's Tuckshop | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| K3 | The Secrets of Vairy | 1947 | Muller | Margaret Horder |
| K4 | Rosamund's Castle | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| K5 | Jandy Mac Comes Back | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| K6 | Song of the Abbey | also part of the main Abbey Series |
The Kentisbury Series is much more closely tied into the Abbey Series. Patch and a Pawn introduces Patricia (Patch) Paterson (later Kane), Rhoda, Geoff, Bill and Rosalie Kane, Tansy Lillico and Roger Black. It is set in and around 'Kentisbury Castle', a fictionalised Arundel
Arundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. Rhoda and Rosalie reappear in Rosamund's Tuckshop, also set in Sussex, at Washington
Washington, West Sussex
Washington is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located five miles west of Steyning and three miles east of Storrington on the A24 between Horsham and Worthing. The parish covers an area of 1,276 hectares...
. Bill, Patch and Roger reppear in Secrets of Vairy. set at 'Vairy Castle', a fictionalised Knockderry Castle
Cove, Argyll and Bute
Cove is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.It is on the south-west of the Rosneath peninsula, on the east shore of Loch Long.Before the local government reorganisation in Scotland in 1975 it formed part of the small Joint Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan, in the County of Dumbarton.In common with...
on Loch Long
Loch Long
Loch Long is a body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately 20 miles in length, with a width of between one and two miles...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Tansy reappears in Rosamund's Castle, once again set at Washington and Kentisbury/Arundel, and Jandy Mac Comes Back is also set mainly at Kentisbury. Bill and Patch as newly-weds appear in Song of the Abbey; the scenes in which they appear are set at Kentisbury, although the main action of the book takes place at The Abbey in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. These characters are all mentioned in several books in the main Abbey Series published and set after Rosamund's Tuckshop.
Quellyn/Woodend Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QW1 | The Girl Who Wouldn't Make Friends | 1909 | Nelson | P. B. Hickling |
| QW2 | Rosamund's Tuckshop | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| QW3 | Rosamund's Castle | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| QW4 | New Girls At Wood End | 1957 | Frederick Books/Blackie | D/J Margery Gill |
| QW5 | Robins in the Abbey | also part of the main Abbey Series |
The Quellyn/Woodend Series provides an awkward problem of internal chronology within Oxenham's various book series. The main Abbey Series can be dated to within a year or two by events in the real world that are mentioned in Girls of the Hamlet Club, although it is recognised that there are anachronisms in the Retrospective Series. But in The Girl Who Wouldn't Make Friends we are introduced to Robin (Robertina Brent, later Quellyn) and Gwyneth Morgan (later Lloyd) as twelve-year-olds; although the story starts in the London suburbs, most of the action takes place at 'Quellyn' and Nefyn
Nefyn
Nefyn is a small town and community on the north west coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 2,619. Welsh is the first language of almost 80% of its inhabitants. The A497 road terminates in the town centre.-History:...
on the Llŷn Peninsula
Llŷn Peninsula
The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...
in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. The next part of their story is told in Rosamund's Tuckshop and Rosamund's Castle, both in the main Abbey Series when they are seventeen or so, about five years later in 'Abbey Time', but which were published eighteen and nineteen years later respectively. These two books are set at 'Wood End School' in Washington
Washington, West Sussex
Washington is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located five miles west of Steyning and three miles east of Storrington on the A24 between Horsham and Worthing. The parish covers an area of 1,276 hectares...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. Robin's romance and marriage are described in Robins in the Abbey, published in 1947, and set mainly in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
at 'The Abbey' and at 'Quellyn', but in 1957 Oxenham returned to Robin's school career, and produced New Girls at Wood End, a book about Robin's time as Head Girl, set in the spring following Rosamund's Castle.
The world of 1909, in which 'motors' can be driven across fields and through gated lanes by a twelve-year-old Gwyneth, and where a telegram is brought from the post office in the nearest town by bicycle, contrasts starkly with the air crash that features in Robins in the Abbey and the car accident and BBC news bulletins of New Girls at Wood End - and with the ownership and use of the telephone in the latter two titles as a normal and common feature.
Rocklands Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ro1 | A Go-Ahead Schoolgirl | 1919 | Chambers | H. Earnshaw |
| Ro2 | Tickles, or The School that was Different | 1924 | Partridge | not credited |
| Ro3 | Jen of the Abbey School | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| Ro4 | Rosamund's Victory | also part of the main Abbey Series |
A Go-Ahead Schoolgirl takes place during the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
at Rocklands School in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. The description of the area has more in common with Froggatt Edge
Froggatt Edge
Froggatt Edge is a gritstone escarpment in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England and situated in close proximity to the villages of Froggatt, Calver, Curbar, Baslow and Grindleford...
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, but Oxenham is well-known for her 'translocation' of places to fit the story. It tells of Rena (Andrena) Mackay (later Courtney) and her friend Nancy Morrell, and their time at school. When Rena's father is killed in the War, she must find a career. The headmistress's sister, who owns Rocklands House, helps her, and another friend, Lisabel (Elisabel) Durrant (also later Courtney - they marry brothers), to become gardeners, and sends them to Swanley
Wye College
The College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
to train. Tickles tells of a new junior at the School, Tekla (Tickles) and her amazement at the school which moves every spring from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
to the moors at Rocklands and returns each autumn. Jen of the Abbey School - also considered part of the main Abbey Series, continues the story of Tekla's school career and describes how the girls of Rocklands meet Jen Robins (later Marchwood) of the Abbey Series. Rosamund's Victory continues the story of Rena and Lisabel and describes their engagements. Lisabel, by this time married with a baby daughter, also plays a significant role in New Girls at Wood End (see the Quellyn/Woodend series above). Betty McLean, head girl of Rocklands in Tickles and Jen, comes into the main Abbey Series in Abbey Girls at Home and appears or is mentioned in many later titles in that series.
Rachel & Damaris/Rainbows Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ra1 | Damaris at Dorothy's | 1937 | SPCK/Sheldon | 'Bea' |
| Ra2 | Maidlin to the Rescue | also part of the main Abbey Series | ||
| Ra3 | Damaris Dances | 1940 | O.U.P | Margaret Horder |
| Ra4 | Adventure for Two | 1941 | O.U.P. | Margaret Horder |
| Ra5 | Elsa Puts Things Right | 1944 | Muller | Margaret Horder |
| Ra6 | Pernel Wins | 1942 | Muller | Margaret Horder |
| Ra7 | Daring Doranne | 1945 | Muller | Margaret Horder |
| Ra8 | Margery Meets the Roses | 1947 | Lutterworth †g | V. Bertoglio |
| Ra0 | Mistress Nanciebel | 1910 | Hodder & Stoughton (later editions O.U.P.) | J. A. Durden |
The Rachel & Damaris/Rainbows Series is another example of how Oxenham combines series and characters, weaving in and out of the main Abbey Series. Maidlin to the Rescue was published in 1934, and tells of Maidlin's previously unknown cousins, Rachel and Damaris, and how Maidlin overcomes their resistance to being 'adopted' by her and brings them back to The Abbey. Damaris at Dorothy's, published three years later, returns to the schooldays of Rachel and Damaris and gives the back story of their relationship with Philippa (Pip) Russell, who plays a crucial part in the plot of Maidlin to the Rescue. Damaris Dances was written in response to Oxenham's publishers' wish for a 'ballet book'. Apparently it took several years and many revisions, since Oxenham was not a ballet expert. It covers the period in the main Abbey Series from just before Joy's New Adventure to just after Maidlin Bears the Torch. Rachel and Damaris have a cameo in Two Joans in the Abbey and appear briefly in Abbey Champion as bridesmaids at Maidlin's wedding to Jock Robertson. From Guardians of the Abbey onwards, their characters are fully integrated into the main Abbey Series.
Adventure for Two takes the Rainbows series in a different direction. It takes place partly concurrently with, and just after, Damaris Dances. Two sisters, Daphne and Elsa Dale, make different decisions after the death of their aunt. Daphne continues her ballet training in London, and comes to know Damaris and take part in her ballet 'The Goose Girl'. Elsa returns to 'Hillside', near 'Sandylands' - a fictionalised Uphill
Uphill
Uphill is a village on the edge of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England.-History:There is evidence of a port at Uphill since Roman times, probably for the export of lead from the Mendip Hills...
, near Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
- to live in the cottage their aunt has left to her. The rest of the series introduces Nancybell Morgan (later Farnham), Margery Paine (later Woodburn), Gilbert and Annamaria Seymour, and the 'Rose sisters'. Pernel Wins and Daring Doranne tie into this series in that the characters in Pernel, Pernel Richard herself, Juliet Joyes and Gwen Baldwin come to live at 'Rainbow Corner' at the beginning of Doranne, and the village Doranne founds, also called 'Rainbows', is where the 'Roses' live, and where Margery Paine comes to make her new beginning. The Roses join the main Abbey Series in Fiddler for the Abbey, and news of the other characters is given in some of the later books in the Abbey Series. Mistress Nanciebel, published in 1910, tells the story of 'the ancestress' of Gilbert and Annamaria Seymour, and of Nancybell Morgan. Here, Oxenham has created a family history for her modern characters by using details from another of her books, published over thirty years earlier.
Torment Series
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | The School Torment | 1920 | Chambers | H. Earnshaw |
| T2 | The Testing of the Torment | 1925 | Cassell | P. B. Hickling |
| T3 | The Camp Fire Torment | 1926 | Chambers | Enid Browne |
- Tormentil Grant appears in The Abbey Girls Go Back to School (A11) but this is the only real link with the Abbey Series. All three books are set on Lake Bala in North WalesNorth WalesNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
.
Sussex Set
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sx1 | The Junior Captain | 1923 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
| Sx2 | Peggy Makes Good | 1927 | Partridge | H. L. Bacon |
| Sx3 | The School Without A Name | 1924 | Chambers | Nina K. Brisley |
| Sx4 | Ven at Gregory's | 1925 | Chambers | Nina K. Brisley |
| Sx5 | The Troubles of Tazy | see Sw4 below | ||
| Sx5 | Patience and her Problems | see Wd3 below |
Swiss Set
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sw1 | The Two Form Captains | 1921 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
| Sw2 | The Captain of the Fifth | 1922 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
| Sw3 | The Camp Mystery | see CK3 above | ||
| Sw4 | The Troubles of Tazy | 1926 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
| Sw5 | Patience and her Problems | see Wd3 below |
Woody Dean Set
| code | Title | Date | Publisher | Illustrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wd1 | The School of Ups and Downs | 1918 | Chambers | H. Earnshaw |
| Wd2 | Patience Joan,Outsider | 1922 | Cassell | not credited |
| Wd3 | Patience and her Problems | 1927 | Chambers | Molly Benatar |
| Wd0 | A School Camp Fire | 1917 | Chambers | Percy Tarrant |
These three sets, Sussex, Swiss and Woody Dean, are closely connected to each other, as may be seen by the titles they share. The village of 'Woody Dean', the setting for the Woody Dean Set, is a fictionalised Rottingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, and the nearby school may be based on Roedean School
Roedean School
-Roedeanians in fiction:* Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward * Dawn Drummond-Clayton * Emily James...
. The Sussex Set takes place mainly in Pagham
Pagham
Pagham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, with a population of around 5,500.-Geography:The village comprises three main areas:*Pagham Beach, coastal area, developed in the early 20th Century,...
though it is never named, and the cathedral city mentioned in the text as 'Eldingham' must be intended as Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
. Troubles of Tazy and Patience and her Problems both take place largely in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, either at the St John's & St Mary's Schools complex where the earlier books in the Swiss Set are based, or in the nearby hostel for girls and ladies, and characters from all three sets appear in these two titles.
A School Camp Fire is another of those titles that Oxenham 'revisited', to take characters and bring them into books she wrote later. Several main characters from it attend Helen Robinson's wedding inSchool of Ups and Downs but it has no connection otherwise, and cannot be said to form part of a real series. As a book, it is in itself split into four sub-sections each of which tells a discrete story, though the characters of Priscilla, Katharine and Dorothy-Anne are present throughout the book.
Characters from the Swiss Set also appear or are mentioned in the Camp Keema Series and in the Abbey Series itself, which gives the only connection these titles have with the main series.
- †g = republished in paperback by Girls Gone By Publishers
- See also The Elsie J. Oxenham Society/Abbey Chronicle web site, which includes extra notes on how the series fit with each other and connect into the Abbey Series.