Helen Bannerman
Helen Bannerman | |
|---|---|
 Helen Bannerman | |
| Born | 25 February 1862 Edinburgh |
| Died | 13 October 1946 (aged 84) Edinburgh |
| Resting place | Grange Cemetery |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | University of St. Andrews |
| Genre | Children's books |
| Notable works | Little Black Sambo |
| Spouse | William Burney Bannerman |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Patrick Heron Watson |
Helen Brodie Cowan Bannerman (née Watson; 25 February 1862 in Edinburgh – 13 October 1946 in Edinburgh), was a Scottish author of children's books. She is best known for her first book, Little Black Sambo (1899).
Life
Bannerman was born at 35 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh.[1] She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of seven children of Robert Boog Watson (1823-1910), minister of the Free Church of Scotland and malacologist, and his wife Janet (1831-1912), daughter of Helen Brodie and the papermaker and philanthropist Alexander Cowan.[2] Between the ages of 2 and 12 she lived in Madeira, where her father was minister at the Scottish church.[1] When the family returned, they spent much time with their maternal aunt, Mrs Cowan at 35 Royal Terrace on Calton Hill.[3]
Because women were not admitted into British universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews, attaining the qualification of Lady Literate in Arts (LLA) in 1887.[1] She then married Dr William Burney Bannerman, a physician and an officer in the Indian Medical Service (IMS).[1] The couple then moved to India in 1889, taking up residence in Madras (modern-day Chennai),[4] capital of the state of Tamil Nadu on the southeastern seacoast, populated mostly by the Tamil ethnic group. During their 30 years in India they had four children: daughters Janet (b. 1893) and Day (b. 1896), and sons James "Pat" Patrick (b.1900) and Robert (b. 1902).[1]
She died in Edinburgh in 1946 of cerebral thrombosis.[1] She is buried with her husband in Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.[citation needed]
She was the grandmother of the physicist Tom Kibble, who discovered the Higgs–Kibble mechanism and the Higgs boson.[citation needed]
Works
The illustrations and settings of Bannerman's books are all about Indians and their culture. Little Black Sambo has ghee, tigers, and a bazaar, The Story of Little Black Mingo has jungle, a mugger (a kind of crocodile), a dhobi, and a mongoose, Little Black Quasha has a bazaar and tigers, and The Story of Little Black Quibba has mangoes and elephants.
Works
- The Story of Little Black Sambo, 1899[5][6]
- Story of Little Black Mingo, 1901
- The Story of Little Black Quibba, 1902[7]
- Little Degchie-Head: An Awful Warning to Bad Babas, 1903
- Little Kettle-Head, 1904
- Pat and the Spider, 1905
- The Story of the Teasing Monkey, 1907
- Little Black Quasha, 1908
- Story of Little Black Bobtail, 1909
- Sambo and the Twins, 1936
See also
References
- Hay, Elizabeth (1981), Sambo Sahib: the story of Little Black Sambo and Helen Bannerman (1st ed.), Edinburgh: Paul Harris Publishing, ISBN 0-904505-91-X
- ^ a b c d e f "Bannerman, Helen Brodie Cowan". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Rootsweb, Helen Brodie Cowan Watson
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1862
- ^ Jeyathurai, Dashini. "The complicated racial politics of Little Black Sambo", South Asian American Digital Archive, 4 April 2012
- ^ Stories for Little Children, p. 376 (1920) Houghton Mifflin, New York
- ^ Mary Stone, ed. (1908) Children's Stories that Never Grow Old, p. 173, Reilly & Britton Company, Chicago
- ^ Helen Bannerman (1902) The Story of Little Black Quibba
External links
Media related to Helen Bannerman at Wikimedia Commons
