Brent-Dyer, Elinor M. (1894–1969)
Brent-Dyer, Elinor M. (1894–1969)
English children's book writer. Name variations: Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer. Born Gladys Eleanor May Dyer, April 6, 1894, in South Shields, England; died Sept 20, 1969, in Redhill, England; dau. of Charles Morris Brent Dyer and Eleanor "Nelly" Watson Rutherford; attended City of Leeds Training College.
Prolific writer of 98 books for young people, most notably the "Chalet School" and "La Rochelle" series, was schoolmistress at St. Helen's Northwood in Middlesex, at Moreton House School in Dunstable and at Fareham near Portsmouth; adopted name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer (1920s); wrote 1st book Gerry Goes to School (1922) for child actress Hazel Bainbridge; spent holiday in Austrian Tyrol at Pertisau-am-Achensee (early 1920s), then successfully used the location for her famous "Chalet School" series, beginning with The School at the Chalet (1925); sought to use "Chalet" books to discourage parochialism and xenophobia through main character Jo Bettany; became a Roman Catholic (1930); moved to Hereford with mother and stepfather (1933), traveling daily to Peterchurch to work as governess; started Margaret Roper Girl's School in Hereford, serving as headmistress until school's closing in 1948; began writing full-time (1948); later books set in Channel Islands in Wales and in Bernese Oberland; moved to Redhill (1964).