author
Ethel Hume Bennett
1881–1956
A Canadian writer of children's fiction, she is best remembered for the Judy novels, lively school-and-holiday stories that introduced young readers to Judith Benson and her adventures. Her books have remained visible through reprints and digital editions, including the enduringly popular Judy of York Hill.
1 Audiobook
Judy of York Hill
by Ethel Hume Bennett
About the author
Born in Toronto in 1881 as Ethel Hume Patterson, she studied at Toronto Public High School and later earned a BA from Victoria College at the University of Toronto. She married John S. Bennett in 1916 and is generally described in book and library sources as having continued to live in Toronto.
Bennett is chiefly remembered for a quartet of children's novels centered on Judy, or Judith Benson, with Judy of York Hill first appearing in 1922. The series follows school and holiday adventures, and later titles such as Camp Conqueror helped build her reputation as a writer of brisk, character-driven fiction for younger readers.
Alongside her own novels, she also worked on edited collections connected with Sir Charles G. D. Roberts. Reliable book sources consistently list her as dying in 1956, though at least one cemetery-style record online gives a conflicting later date, so it is safest to treat 1956 as the standard published date while noting that not every source agrees.