Wombles creator Elisabeth Beresford dies, aged 84

Writer of children's books invented much-loved creatures who made use of 'things that the eveyday folk left behind'

Elisabeth Beresford, the writer best known for creating the much-loved children's television programme,The Wombles, has died.

The 84-year-old invented the characters of the Wombles of Wimbledon Common, who became household names in the 1970s.

Beresford died at 10.30pm yesterday in the Mignot Memorial hospital on Alderney, in the Channel Islands, after suffering heart failure, her son Marcus Robertson said.

The first Wombles book was published in 1968 and, after it was broadcast on Jackanory, the BBC decided to make an animated series. Beresford wrote over 20 Wombles books within a decade, which were translated into more than 40 languages. She also wrote a Wombles stage show, one version of which ran in the West End.

A total of 35 five-minute films were broadcast on BBC One accompanied by Mike Batt's music and the programme's synonymous theme tune,Underground Overground, Wombling Free. The characters were voiced by actor Bernard Cribbens and the puppets created by Ivor Wood.

Beresford was inspired to create the characters by a child's mispronunciation one Christmas, when she took her children to Wimbledon Common for a Boxing Day stroll and her daughter Kate referred to the area as "Wombledon".

A number of the characters she developed were based on members of her family. Great Uncle Bulgaria was based on her father-in-law, Tobermory on her brother (a skilled inventor), Orinoco, on her son, and Madame Cholet on her mother.

Beresford was born in Paris in 1928, although her family home was in England. Her father, JD Beresford, was a successful novelist and book reviewer and friends of the family included HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw, W Somerset Maguham and DH Lawrence.

Her own literary career began as a ghost writer, specialising in speeches, including for Conservative MPs. She then began training as a journalist and obtained work for the BBC as a radio reporter.

In 1949, she married sports commentator sports Max Robertson, with whom she travelled to Australia, South Africa and the West Indies. The couple had a son and daughter together but divorced after 35 years.

As well as the Wombles she wrote two TV series, Seven Days to Sydney and Come to the Caribbean.

Beresford was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature in the 1998 New Year's Honours List.

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