T'Bacca Queen by Theodora Wilson Wilson / Cumbria Reading Detectives

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T'Bacca Queen by Theodora Wilson Wilson Find!

I must confess I haven't read this book, but am writing this entry on behalf of Doreen, a fellow detective, who as a true local has a keen interest in the local history of what is now south Cumbria, but what used to be Westmorland and Lancashire north of the Sands.

This is a novel, but true, with fictional place names replacing the actual ones. Theodora Wilson Wilson, the author, was a teacher and social worker in Fellside, now part of Kendal. The book is set mostly in "Farbiggin" (Kendal) and "Scarthside" (Fellside).

There is a good deal of dialect in the book, which indicates the social differences between the young cousins at the centre of the story, Eleanor and Nell. John Carradus, their grandfather disinherited both his son, who had left England to become a muscian in Germany, and his daughter, leaving all his money instead to Eleanor . After some years the cousins meet and become good friends despite the differences in their circumstances. The book gives a detailed account of the struggle of existence which the poor people living in Scarthside in the nineteenth century had.

On September 1st, I went with a local history group to this part of Kendal. It was very interesting, particularly as I had just read T'Bacca Queen. Not many of the original cottages still stand, and it is hard to imagine that between 600 to 1000 people lived in such a small area. Actually seeing Fellside brought the book alive for me.

During the visit we passed the house where Harry Griffin lived. He used to write a column in the Guardian, so this made me read "A Lifetime of Mountains", the best of Harry Griffin's Country Diary writings, which gives some lovely accounts of Lakeland life.

Doreen's enthusiasm for T'Bacca Queen led me to delve further into books about Kendal's past and particularly Fellside. Alfred Wainwright well known for his pictorial guides, but less well known for his other works, produced one such book 'Kendal in the nineteenth century'.

23 September 2009 from Anne

1 Comment

Joy Bagster | May 4, 2012 12:12 PM

I recently discovered that Theodora Wilson Wilson was my great-great-aunt. Although I vaguely had heard of her name I did not realise that we were related and I have never read any of her books as they were all published before I was born. I was delighted to read "Anne's" description of "T'Bacca Queen". It brings Theodora closer knowing that she actually existed.
Joy Bagster

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