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Bessie Bunter

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Bessie Bunter
First appearanceThe Magnet#582 (April 1919)[1]
Created byCharles Hamiltonwriting as Frank Richards
In-universe information
Full nameElizabeth Gertrude Bunter
NicknameBessie
GenderGirl
OccupationSchoolgirl
Relatives
  • Billy Bunter(brother)
  • Sammy Bunter (brother)
  • Mr. Samuel Bunter (father)
  • Mrs Amelia Bunter (mother)
ReligionChurch of England
NationalityBritish
SchoolGreyfriars School

Elizabeth Gertrude Bunter,better known asBessie Bunter,is a fictional character created byCharles Hamilton,who also created her more famous brotherBilly Bunter.

History

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Bessie Bunter
Bessie Bunter of Cliff House

Billy Bunter was a central character in theGreyfriars Schoolstories which appeared in the boys'story paperThe Magnetfrom 1907 to 1940, and Bessie's first appearance was in a 1919 Greyfriars story.[1]She was a pupil of Cliff House School, a girls' school near Greyfriars.

In 1919, attempting to replicate the success ofThe Magnet,Amalgamated Pressdecided to bring out a new magazine for girls calledTheSchool Friend(later continued asThe Schoolgirl), which included stories about Cliff House originally by Hamilton, using thepen name"Hilda Richards," supposedly the sister of "Frank Richards." The stories were soon taken over by other authors, also using the name Hilda Richards. The most prolific of these substitute writers was John W. Wheway, who wrote well over 500 Cliff House stories between 1931 and 1940.[2]

Hamilton wrote one more Cliff House story, in 1949, called "Bessie Bunter of Cliff House School", and published by Cassell.[citation needed]

The character also appeared incomic stripformat in theSchool Friendcomic book, which was published from 1950 to 1965; she later moved toJune,and, when that title ended, moved toTammy.

In addition, she featured as an adult character inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossierwhere she married the former Greyfriars schoolboyHarry Wharton.[3]

Character

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Bessie Bunter was essentially a female counterpart to her brother Billy, sharing many characteristics with her brother, including her large size and large appetite. She was as unappealing as her brother Billy, being conceited, untruthful, gluttonous and obese, but she was rather more domineering than he was and would usually impose her will by nagging, or, in the case of her brothers, by administering hefty slaps to the head.[4]

References

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  1. ^ab"The School Friend".Friardale. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  2. ^(Lofts & Adley 1975:65)
  3. ^Moore, AlanandKevin O'Neill.The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier(WildStorm/DC Comics, November 14, 2007).
  4. ^(Cadogan 1988:20).

Sources

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  • Cadogan, Mary; Craig, Patricia (1976),You're a Brick Angela,London: Gollancz
  • Cadogan, Mary (1988),Frank Richards – The Chap Behind The Chums,Middlesex: Viking
  • Hamilton Wright, Una; McCall, Peter (2006),The Far Side of Billy Bunter: the Biography of Charles Hamilton,London: Friars Library
  • Lofts, W. O. G.; Adley, D. J. (1975),The World of Frank Richards,London: Howard Baker
  • Richards, Frank (1962),The Autobiography of Frank Richards,London: Skilton
  • Richards, Jeffery (1991),Happiest Days: Public Schools in English Fiction,Manchester: Manchester University Press
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