Ethel Talbot

Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1880, Ethel Talbot was an English writer for children, especially remembered for girls’ school stories. Sources agree that she came from a large family, the daughter of Hugh Talbot and Margaret Ellen Turrell, and that relatively little is firmly documented about her early life and education.

As an adult, she appears to have lived for a time in Edinburgh, where she was associated with fellow school-story writer E. M. de Foubert, before later moving to London. Her work ranged beyond school fiction into adventure, Guide and Brownie stories, but school settings remained at the heart of her reputation.

Many of her books were published in the 1920s and 1930s, and several remain accessible today through digitized editions, including The Bravest Girl in School, Betty at St. Benedick's, and The Island Camp. No suitable verified portrait image could be confirmed from the sources reviewed here.