Barbara Euphan Todd
Barbara Euphan Todd was an English writer born on January 9, 1890, in Arksey, Yorkshire. Growing up in a pastoral setting, she developed a passion for writing at a young age, and by her teenage years, she was already enrolled in a girls' school to hone her craft. During World War I, she contributed to the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. In the 1920s, she began collaborating with friends to write children's stories, leading to the publication of several books.
Todd gained significant recognition with the creation of her character Worzel Gummidge, a talking scarecrow who engages in adventures with human children. The first book featuring Worzel Gummidge was published in 1936, and the character became a staple in children’s literature, with ten novels released up until 1963. After the loss of her husband in World War II, Todd relied on her writing career, which included not only novels but also radio plays and later adaptations into a popular television series. Her literary contributions primarily targeted children, though she did venture into adult fiction under a different name. Todd passed away on February 2, 1976, before she could witness the full impact of her beloved character's legacy.
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Subject Terms
Barbara Euphan Todd
Writer
- Born: January 9, 1890
- Birthplace: Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England
- Died: February 2, 1976
Biography
Barbara Euphan Todd was born on January 9, 1890, in Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, and grew up in the country village of Soberton in Hampshire. Her father, Thomas Todd, was an Anglican minister, and her mother, Alice Maud Mary Bentham Todd, was a homemaker. At the age of eight, Todd decided to become a writer. At fourteen, she enrolled in a girls’ school in Guildford, Surrey.
During World War I, Todd served in a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). When her father retired shortly after the war, she went to live with her parents and try to write. In the 1920’s, when Todd was in her thirties, she and her friend Marjory Royce began to write children’s stories together. With a third writer, Moira Meighn, they published a collection titled The’Normous Saturday Fiction Book, followed over the next five years by more books by Todd and Royce alone.
In 1932, while in her forties, Todd married John Graham Bower, a widowed naval officer with a daughter of his own. Bower was also a writer, and the family moved to Blewbury, near Oxford, where other writers and artists had settled. With Todd writing as Barbara Euphan and Bower as Klaxon, they collaborated on two children’s books, South Country Secrets and The Touchstone.
The next year, Todd created the character that established her reputation. She published Worzel Gummidge: Or, The Scarecrow of Scatterbrook, about a talking scarecrow living in rural England. When human children John and Susan visit the countryside from their homes in the city, they discover a community of scarecrows that walk, talk, work, and marry, without any of the adults being aware of them. Worzel Gummidge became a popular character, and was eventually featured in ten novels published between 1936 and 1963. Todd’s husband was killed in World War II, and Todd was able to support herself as a writer thanks to the success of these books.
During the 1950’s, Todd created a series of radio plays starring Worzel Gummidge, and just after her death the character became the star of a popular television series produced first in England and then in New Zealand. In the 1980’s, the stars of the television series performed in a stage musical version of the Worzel Gummidge stories. Most of Todd’s more than thirty books, including two volumes of poetry, were written for children, but she did publish one adult novel, Miss Ranskill Comes Home, using the name Barbara Bower. Todd died on February 2, 1976. She did not live to see her character Worzel Gummidge reach the height of his popularity.