Joanna Cannan
Encyclopedia
Joanna Cannan was a writer of pony books and detective novels. Her pony books were aimed primarily at children.
Youngest daughter of Oxford don Charles Cannan and Mary Wedderburn, also cousin of Gilbert Cannan
, it is perhaps her children she is best known for, being mother to Josephine Pullein-Thompson, Diana Pullein-Thompson, Christine Pullein-Thompson and Denis Cannan
. One of three daughters, she was the sister of the poet May Cannan, also sister of Dorothea Cannan and grandmother to Charlotte Popescu, Phillip, Mark and Lucy. In addition she was a great grandmother to 8 children (Oliver, Daniel, Anna, Benjamin, Thomas and Hamish, Edwina and Maxwell).
Though born and brought up in Oxford, she had a fondness for Scotland, which was the destination for many family holidays and part of her maternal heritage. Her ancestors participated in some of the seminal events in Scottish history, such as the Jacobite rising
and Battle of Culloden
. It is no surprise, then, that many of her books are set there. The wilds of Roshven in the West Highlands must have seen a dramatic and romantic location in comparison to sedate Oxford, especially when the Cannan children were 'provided with an unrelenting diet of boys' adventure stories'.
During World War I she became a VAD
nurse; it was during her nursing duties in Oxford when she met her future husband Captain Harold J "Cappy" Pullein-Thompson, whom she married in 1918. Although she became Joanna Cannan Pullein-Thompson, she only published as Joanna Cannan. As he was badly injured during the war, she was the main income for the family, producing a book every year until she died. After their marriage she moved to Wimbledon. Disapproving of traditional education, she encouraged her daughters to write and to be self-reliant. However she did impose a wide variety of strict house rules including "Don't talk horses at meals", a rule that was hard for her daughters to follow.
Most of her pony books were published before or during World War II; after the war she began to experiment with detective novels, because she felt the world she used to write about was beginning to disappear. In the early 1950s her health began to decline: she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. She died in 1961, four years after her husband.
A painting of Joanna Cannan is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
As well as the books listed, she also contributed to a few magazines during her lifetime.
Dates unknown:-
We Met Our Cousins was republished by Fidra Books
in 2006 with a twenty page biography of the author by her daughter Josephine Pullein-Thompson. London Pride (the sequel to We Met Our Cousins) is now available to buy from the same publisher.
Dates unknown:-
Youngest daughter of Oxford don Charles Cannan and Mary Wedderburn, also cousin of Gilbert Cannan
Gilbert Cannan
Gilbert Cannan was a British novelist and dramatist.-Early life:Born in Manchester of Scottish descent, he got on badly with his family, and in 1897 he was sent to live in Oxford with the economist Edwin Cannan...
, it is perhaps her children she is best known for, being mother to Josephine Pullein-Thompson, Diana Pullein-Thompson, Christine Pullein-Thompson and Denis Cannan
Denis Cannan
Denis Cannan was a British dramatist, playwright and script writer. Born Denis Pullein-Thompson, the son of Captain Harold J. Pullein-Thompson and novelist Joanna Cannan, he changed his name by deed poll in 1964. His younger sisters were Josephine, Diana and Christine Pullein-Thompson.Born in...
. One of three daughters, she was the sister of the poet May Cannan, also sister of Dorothea Cannan and grandmother to Charlotte Popescu, Phillip, Mark and Lucy. In addition she was a great grandmother to 8 children (Oliver, Daniel, Anna, Benjamin, Thomas and Hamish, Edwina and Maxwell).
Though born and brought up in Oxford, she had a fondness for Scotland, which was the destination for many family holidays and part of her maternal heritage. Her ancestors participated in some of the seminal events in Scottish history, such as the Jacobite rising
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
and Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
. It is no surprise, then, that many of her books are set there. The wilds of Roshven in the West Highlands must have seen a dramatic and romantic location in comparison to sedate Oxford, especially when the Cannan children were 'provided with an unrelenting diet of boys' adventure stories'.
During World War I she became a VAD
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...
nurse; it was during her nursing duties in Oxford when she met her future husband Captain Harold J "Cappy" Pullein-Thompson, whom she married in 1918. Although she became Joanna Cannan Pullein-Thompson, she only published as Joanna Cannan. As he was badly injured during the war, she was the main income for the family, producing a book every year until she died. After their marriage she moved to Wimbledon. Disapproving of traditional education, she encouraged her daughters to write and to be self-reliant. However she did impose a wide variety of strict house rules including "Don't talk horses at meals", a rule that was hard for her daughters to follow.
Most of her pony books were published before or during World War II; after the war she began to experiment with detective novels, because she felt the world she used to write about was beginning to disappear. In the early 1950s her health began to decline: she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. She died in 1961, four years after her husband.
A painting of Joanna Cannan is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
As well as the books listed, she also contributed to a few magazines during her lifetime.
Pony Books
- A Pony for Jean (1936)
- We Met Our Cousins (1937)
- Another Pony for Jean (1938)
- London Pride (1939)
- More Ponies for Jean (1943)
- They Bought Her A Pony (1944)
- Hamish: The Story of a Shetland Pony (1944)
- I Wrote A Pony Book (1950)
- Gaze at the Moon (1957)
Dates unknown:-
- The Vanguard Book of Ponies and Riding (co-writer)
We Met Our Cousins was republished by Fidra Books
Fidra Books
Fidra Books is a publisher based in Edinburgh which specialises in reissuing forgotten children's books, especially those from the 1940s onwards....
in 2006 with a twenty page biography of the author by her daughter Josephine Pullein-Thompson. London Pride (the sequel to We Met Our Cousins) is now available to buy from the same publisher.
Other books
- The Tripled Crown. (A book of English, Scotch and Irish verse for the age of six to sixteen) (co-author) (1908)
- The Misty Valley (1922)
- Wild Berry Wine (1925)
- The Lady Of the Heights (1926)
- Sheila Both Ways (1928)
- The Simple Pass On (1929)
- No walls of Jasper (1930)
- Orphan of Mars (1930)
- The Hour of the Angel: Ithuriel's Hour (1931)
- High Table (1931)
- Snow In Harvest (1932)
- North Wall (1933)
- Under Proof (1934)
- The Hills Sleep On (1935)
- A Hand to Burn (1936)
- Frightened Angels (1936)
- Princes In The Land (1936) (Republished by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
in 2006) - Pray Do Not Venture (1937)
- They Rang Up the Police (1939)
- Idle Apprentice (1940)
- Death at The Dog (1940)
- Blind Messenger (1941)
- Little I Understood (1948)
- Murder Included (later republished as A Taste of Murder and in the USA as Poisonous Relations) (1950)
- And all I learned (1951)
- Body In The Beck (1952)
- Long Shadows (1955)
- People to be found (1956)
- And be a Villain (1958)
- All is Discovered (1962)
Dates unknown:-
- The Lady Of The Valley
- Oxfordshire (non-fiction)
External links
- A useful article about collecting old pony books, featuring her works and those of her daughters
- Fidra Books page about Joanna Cannan
- An article devoted to the author, including book scans
- Persephone's page about the author
- Persphone's page about her book Princes In The Land; also contains more information about the author
- Some background to the pony story