Bessie Bunter
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Gertrude Bunter, better known as Bessie Bunter, is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton
, who also created her more famous brother Billy Bunter
.
stories which appeared in the boys' story paper, The Magnet
from 1907 to 1940 and Bessie's first appearance was in a 1919 Greyfriars story. She was a pupil of Cliff House School, a girls' school near Greyfriars.
In 1919, attempting to replicate the success of The Magnet, Amalgamated Press decided to bring out a new magazine for girls called The School Friend (later The Schoolgirl
), which included stories by Hamilton about Cliff House using the pen-name Hilda Richards, supposedly the sister of Frank. The stories were soon taken over by other authors, also using the name Hilda Richards.
Hamilton wrote one more Cliff House story, in 1949, called "Bessie Bunter of Cliff House School", and published by Cassell.
The character also appeared in comic-strip format; in addition, she featured as an adult character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
where she married the former Greyfriars schoolboy Harry Wharton.
Charles Hamilton (writer)
Charles Harold St. John Hamilton , was an English writer, specializing in writing long-running series of stories for weekly magazines about recurrent casts of characters, his most frequent and famous genre being boys' public school stories, though he also dealt with other genres...
, who also created her more famous brother Billy Bunter
Billy Bunter
William George Bunter , is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards...
.
History
Billy Bunter was a central character in the Greyfriars SchoolGreyfriars School
Greyfriars School is a fictional English public school used as a setting in the long running series of stories by the writer Charles Hamilton, who wrote under the pen-name Frank Richards. Although the stories are focused on the Remove , whose most famous pupil was Billy Bunter, other characters...
stories which appeared in the boys' story paper, The Magnet
The Magnet
The Magnet was a United Kingdom weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1683 issues. Each issue contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars School, a fictional public school located somewhere in Kent, and were written...
from 1907 to 1940 and Bessie's first appearance was in a 1919 Greyfriars story. She was a pupil of Cliff House School, a girls' school near Greyfriars.
In 1919, attempting to replicate the success of The Magnet, Amalgamated Press decided to bring out a new magazine for girls called The School Friend (later The Schoolgirl
The Schoolgirl
The Schoolgirl was a British 28-page weekly story paper aimed at girls, subsequently reduced to 24 pages. Launched on 21 February 1922, it was published by...
), which included stories by Hamilton about Cliff House using the pen-name Hilda Richards, supposedly the sister of Frank. The stories were soon taken over by other authors, also using the name Hilda Richards.
Hamilton wrote one more Cliff House story, in 1949, called "Bessie Bunter of Cliff House School", and published by Cassell.
The character also appeared in comic-strip format; in addition, she featured as an adult character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series to be published by DC Comics. Although the third book to be...
where she married the former Greyfriars schoolboy Harry Wharton.
Character
Bessie Bunter was essentially a female counterpart to her brother Billy, sharing many characteristics with her brother, including her large size and large appetite. She was as unappealing as her brother Billy, being conceited, untruthful, gluttonous and obese, but she was rather more domineering than he was and would usually impose her will by nagging, or, in the case of her brothers, by administering hefty slaps to the head..External links
- Friardale Hamilton material
- Magnets
- Greyfriars Index Detailed listing of Hamilton material
- The Friars Club Enthusiasts’ Club
- Bunterzone Enthusiasts’ site
- Index of Boys Weeklies
- Bessie Bunter and Cliff House School
- Cliff House School