- Bessie Bunter
Elizabeth Gertrude Bunter, better known as Bessie Bunter, is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton, the creator also of the more famous
Billy Bunter . Bessie is the sister of Billy Bunter and Sammy Bunter. She first appeared in print in a Billy Bunter story of 1919. ['The Artful Dodger', 'Magnet', no. 582 (1919)]Hamilton wrote the Billy Bunter stories under the
nom de plume "Frank Richards". These Bunter tales became very popular with schoolboys, but when it was discovered that the stories of school life were also popular with girls, Hamilton's publishers decided to bring out a new magazine for girls, 'The School Friend' (later 'The Schoolgirl'), which would include stories by Hamilton about a girls' school. Having already written about "Cliff House School" in his 'Greyfriars' tales, Hamilton decided to base his new series on these already established schoolgirl characters.Hamilton created Bessie Bunter as a female counterpart to her brother Billy, but aiming her adventures at his new female audience. Bessie shared many characteristics with her brother, including her large size and large appetite. Bessie was in the Fourth Form at "Cliff House School". [http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/cliff.html]
Bessis Bunter was as unappealing as her brother Billy, being conceited, untruthful, gluttonous and obese, but she was rather more domineering than he was, and would usually get her way by nagging or by administering hefty slaps to her brother's head. [Mary Cadogan, 'Frank Richards: The Chap Behind the Chums' Pub. by Swallowtail Books (2000) pg 20]
Hamilton penned the Bessie Bunter series as
Hilda Richards , supposedly the sister of "Frank Richards". [http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=45] The stories survived the death of Hamilton and were written by various other authors until the 1980s.In "" Bessie married Harry Wharton, who became head of Ingsoc ("Big Brother"). She died under suspicious circumstances after Wharton's death. [http://www.shsu.edu/~lib_jjn/dossier.html]
References
External links
* [http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/ComicInformationPages/Schoolgirl2Pages/Schoolgirl2HomePage.asp Bessie Bunter and Cliff House School]
* [http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/cliff.html Cliff House School]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818739,00.html Bessie Bunter inTime Magazine ]
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