Josephine Pullein-Thompson

Josephine Mary Wedderburn Pullein-Thompson MBE (3 April 1924 – 19 June 2014), sometimes known as Josephine Mann, was a British writer known for her pony books. She was a leading member of the Pony Club and PEN International. Her mother and two sisters, Christine and Diana also wrote and they created a large number of books and many of them were on the theme of horses.

Life Pullein-Thompson was born on 3 April 1924 into a notable family. Her father, Harold Pullein-Thompson, had won the Military Cross and her mother, Joanna Cannan, was a prolific and successful author. She was the second child, as she had an elder brother who would adopt his mother's name to be a successful playwright of comedies as Denis Cannan. She also had two younger sisters (who were twins), and all the children would be writers.

The family home was a villa in the suburb of Wimbledon, where her father would have two seats on the centre court. Her father was badly wounded and in frequent pain; he had earned the Military Cross during the war. He had been a teacher before the war but he sold fridges and had a game company. The girls had an unusual education, as distinct from their brother who went to Eton College. She was taught by a "mad woman in a hut" and she was rebellious and stubborn. The girls prided themselves on not conforming to expectations. The riding school brought in extra money as the three sisters taught others to ride.

In 1946, she had her first book, Six Ponies, published. She had also helped write It Began With Picotee, which the three sisters created together in 1941, but published also in 1946. The sisters would write dozens of books and Josephine wrote four dozen herself.

Josephine was vice president of the Woodland Hunt Branch of the British Pony Club.

Private life For the last twenty years of his life, she was the devoted companion of the lawyer and author Anthony Babington. He had been so wounded during the Second World War that his girlfriend abandoned him. He had to regain his voice, as that part of his brain was damaged. Until he died in 2004, Babington would travel with Josephine to PEN meetings around the world.

Works Six Ponies (1946) I Had Two Ponies (1947) Plenty of Ponies (1949) Pony Club Team (1950) The Radney Riding Club (1951) Prince Among Ponies (1952) One Day Event (1954) Show Jumping Secret (1955) Patrick's Pony (1956) Pony Club Camp (1957) The Trick Jumpers (1958) All Change (1961; later republished as The Hidden Horse) How Horses Are Trained (non-fiction, 1961) Ponies In Colour (non-fiction) (1962) Learn To Ride Well (non-fiction, 1966, later republished as How To Ride Well) Horses and Their Owners (non-fiction, 1970) Race Horse Holiday (1971, also published as Racehorse Holiday) Proud Riders (1973)