Barbara Willard’s Followers (24)

Barbara Willard

Born

in Brighton, England, The United Kingdom

March 12, 1909

Died

February 18, 1994

Genre

Children's Books

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Barbara Mary Willard was a British novelist best known for children's historical fiction. Her "Mantlemass Chronicles" is a family saga set in 15th to 17th-century England. For one chronicle, The Iron Lily (1973), she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by panel of British children's writers.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and a Barbara Mary Willard was a British novelist best known for children's historical fiction. Her "Mantlemass Chronicles" is a family saga set in 15th to 17th-century England. For one chronicle, The Iron Lily (1973), she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a book award judged by panel of British children's writers.
Willard was born in Brighton, Sussex on 12 March 1909, the daughter of the Shakespearean actor Edmund Willard and Mabel Theresa Tebbs. She was also the great-niece of Victorian-era actor Edward Smith Willard. The young Willard was educated at a convent school in Southampton.
Because of her family connections, Willard originally went on the stage as an actress and also worked as a playreader, but she was unsuccessful and abandoned acting in her early twenties. She wrote numerous books for adults before she turned to children's literature.
Very little about the author was written during her lifetime, because of her private nature. She died at a nursing home in Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, on 18 February 1994.
The Grove of Green Holly (1967), which was a story about a group of 17th century travelling players who were hiding in a forest in Sussex from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, spawned her most famous work, the Mantlemass series (1970–1981) including her Guardian Prize-winning book. Some other books were Hetty (1956), Storm from the West (1963), Three and One to Carry (1964), and Charity at Home (1965).
One of her last books, The Forest - Ashdown in East Sussex, published by Sweethaws Press in 1989, gives a detailed account of Ashdown Forest. In the introduction to the book, Christopher Milne notes that Willard had moved from her home on the Sussex Downs to the edge of Ashdown Forest in 1956 and that her new surroundings had provided the inspiration and setting for ten of her children's historical novels (eight in the Mantlemass series and two others). It is evident by her own account in her book that she actively involved herself in the affairs of the forest. She was a representative of the forest Commoners elected to the forest's Board of Conservators in 1975, and she remained in that capacity for ten years. She tells how she was later heavily involved in the fundraising campaign which enabled East Sussex County Council to purchase the forest in 1988, enabling it to remain as a place of beauty and tranquility open to the public. ...more

Combine Editions
Barbara Willard’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 2,120 ratings · 240 reviews · 99 distinct works • Similar authors

	Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard, Emil Weiss 3.55 avg rating — 720 ratings — published 1997 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard, Mary Beth Owens (Illustrator) 3.64 avg rating — 431 ratings — published 1963 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If All the Swords in England: A Story of Thomas Becket by Barbara Willard, Robert M. Sax (Illustrator) 3.83 avg rating — 216 ratings — published 2000 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lark and the Laurel 3.89 avg rating — 152 ratings — published 1970 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sprig of Broom 4.17 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 1971 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cold Wind Blowing 4.12 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 1972 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iron Lily 4.10 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 1973 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Eldest Son 3.98 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1977 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Harrow and Harvest 3.98 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 1974 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Flight of Swans 4.12 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 1980 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Barbara Willard…

Series by Barbara Willard

The Mantlemass Chronicles (9 books)
by

Barbara Willard

4.02 avg rating — 547 ratings

Mantlemass - Publication Order (9 books)
by

Barbara Willard

4.02 avg rating — 547 ratings

Brandy and Friends (2 books)
by

Barbara Willard

3.72 avg rating — 29 ratings

Snail and the Pennithornes (3 books)
by

Barbara Willard,

Geoffrey Fletcher (Illustrator)

3.88 avg rating — 17 ratings

The Tower Family (2 books)
by

Barbara Willard

3.50 avg rating — 6 ratings

More series by Barbara Willard…

Quotes by Barbara Willard (?)

“Few things can be pleasanter than riding a reliable broomstick through a moony autumn night. It is best of all when home is at the end of the journey.”
― Barbara Willard

4 likes

“If you want a dull life, don't marry a redhead.”
― Barbara Willard

0 likes

“It is what men do to children," Anghilbert said, "that makes or mars our world.”
― Barbara Willard, Son of Charlemagne

tags: politics, power

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game	20218	14606	May 30, 2013 12:53PM
What's the Name o...: YA Historical Fiction. Young girl and younger brother live in an open theater, at first wandering the streets. Starts with their father being arrested for fraud/ money-related crime. Maybe Victorian London/ city? Read before 2014.	48	1792	Jul 31, 2025 03:18AM
Retro Reads: Book Pool 2025	395	94	Jan 04, 2026 03:33PM
Non-Teen Book Zone: Do you fact check when you read in historical fiction?	7	2	Feb 24, 2026 08:14AM
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Barbara Willard’s Followers (24)

Barbara Willard

Combine EditionsBarbara Willard’s books

Series by Barbara Willard

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Barbara Willard’s books