Early Life and Career
Beresford was born on 6 August 1926 in Paris, France. Her father was writer J. D. Beresford, a successful novelist who also worked as a book reviewer for several newspapers. Her godparents included author Walter de la Mare (who dedicated several poems to her), poet Cecil Day-Lewis, and children’s writer Eleanor Farjeon. Beresford enjoyed many literary connections; her parents’ friends included H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Hugh Walpole, W. Somerset Maugham, and D. H. Lawrence.
After 18 months' service as a Wren, Beresford started work as a ghostwriter specialising in writing speeches. She began training as a journalist and was soon writing radio, film and television columns, and working for the BBC as a radio reporter. Beresford married BBC tennis commentator and broadcaster Max Robertson in 1949. The couple had one son and one daughter. Trips to Australia, South Africa, and the West Indies with Robertson led to more children’s books and two television series: Seven Days to Sydney and Come to the Caribbean.
During the 1960s, Beresford was a struggling children's author and freelance journalist. This would, however, change with her creation of the Wombles.
Read more about this topic: Elisabeth Beresford
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