British Girl’s Annual

Here is a checklist for The British Girl’s Annual, which was published from 1910 to 1933, a total of 24 books. From 1910 to 1926, it was published by Cassell, and from 1927 it was published by Amalgamated Press. If you look at second-hand book sites like Abebooks or eBay, you’ll find a great deal of confusing descriptions of these books, with many of them appearing undated and simply described as “the first story is …” or “the cover shows …”. This is mainly because the annuals were only explicitly dated on the dust jacket, spine or title page between 1910 and 1920. Annuals issued between 1920 and 1926 have a printer’s code at the bottom of the final page. Annuals published from 1922 to 1926 have a serial number at the bottom left of the title page which indicates that this is the nth annual issued.

Although the annuals were published every year between 1910 and 1933, there is a gap in the “title date,” the year that the book was claimed to be for. The “British Girl’s Annual for 1910” was published in 1910, and so on up to and including 1914. However, that made each book seem out of date only a week after the child had unwrapped it on Christmas Day, so the annual published in 1915 was the “British Girl’s Annual for 1916.”

There is a corresponding “British Boy’s Annual.”

Notes on the table below:

• Dust jackets are shown where I’ve seen them. For the other annuals, particularly for the first five years, I have no idea whether they were issued in dust jackets.
• For annuals without visible dates, I’ve consulted newspaper reviews, endpaper inscriptions and the competition dates on the editor’s pages. There may still be mistakes.

1910

(Pub. 1910)
First: “The Strategy of Maud” by Ralph Simmonds / Long: “My Twins and How I Found Them” by Lilian F. Wevill

1911

(Pub. 1911)
First: “The Courage of Ross” by Ralph Simmonds / Long: “Miss, from Boarding School” by Dorothea Moore

1912

(Pub. 1912)
First: “A Cheerful Companion” by Dorothy à Beckett Terrell / Long: “The Migration of Kitty” by Doris A. Pocock

1913

(Pub. 1913)
First: “A Schoolgirl Friendship” by Dorothea Moore / Long: “A Fair Jacobite” by M. Lefuse

1914

(Pub. 1914)
First: “Hilda, Heroics and Hockey” by Doris A. Pocock / Long: “The Mysterious Schoolgirl” by Dorothea Moore

1916

(Pub. 1915)
First: “Vic and the Refugee” by Agnes Adams / Long: “Philippa of England” by Dorothea Moore

1917

(Pub. 1916)
First: “A War Pixie” by Mrs George de Horne Vaizey / Long: “The Little Countess of the Revolution” by Violet M. Methley

1918

(Pub. 1917)
First: “St Hilda’s Hostel” by Angela Brazil / Long: “The Girl who was Different” by Ethel Talbot

1919

(Pub. 1918)
First: “The Third Form Strike” by Angela Brazil / Long: “Luck!” by Ethel Talbot

1920

(Pub. 1919)
First: “The Choice” / Long: “King Monmouth” by Violet M. Methley

1921

(Pub. 1920)
First/Long: “The Gold Medal Girl” by Constance Haywood

1922

(Pub. 1921)
First: “For the Red Rose” by Estrith Mansfield / Long: “Tickles and the Talking Cave” by Elsie Jeanette Oxenham

1923

(Pub. 1922)
First: “Marvels of Sea-Shore Life” by Leo Walmsley / Long: “Fortunes in the Fire” by Doris A. Pocock

1924

(Pub. 1923)
First: “A Knight Errant” by W. H. Morris / Long: “The Adventures of Avice” by May Wynne

1925

(Pub. 1924)
First: “Mistress Cinderella” by Dorothea Moore / Long: “The Mystery of the Diamond Serpent” by Ethel Talbot

1926

(Pub. 1925)
First: “Diana of the Snows” by Elizabeth Marc / Long: “The Girl from Nowhere” by Nancy M. Hayes

1927

(Pub. 1926)
First: “Patients–Good and Otherwise” by Helen M. Sidebotham / Long: “The Riddle of the Crimson Fez” by Ethel Talbot

1928

(Pub. 1927)
First: “In the Land of the Sheikhs” by Harold J. Shepstone / Long: “Darry the Dauntless” by Dorothea Moore

1929

(Pub. 1928)
First: “The Lady of Strathcrossie” by Marjorie Bowen / Long: “Skipper and Co.” by Ethel Talbot

1930

(Pub. 1929)
First: “Friday Night’s Dream” by Christine Chaundler / Long: “Stella Morgan’s Double” by Eveline M. Williams

1931

(Pub. 1930)
First: “Elizabeth” by John Mowbray (subtitle: “A Tale of the Ice”) / Long: “Four A and the Christmas Play” by Christine Chaundler

1932

(Pub. 1931)
First: “Adam and the Bear Cub” by H. Mortimer Batten / Long: “The Purple Parrot” by Dorothea Moore

1933

(Pub. 1932)
First: “An Apple-pie Bed for the Head” by Christine Chaundler / Long: “The Secret of the Fens” by Frances Cowan

1934

(Pub. 1933)
First: “The Amateur Sleuths” by Christine Chaundler / Long: “The Priceless Pet” by Bessie Marchant