The Enid Blyton Society

Sorry if this has been covered before. But I cannot find anything about it.

Am I correct in thinking that:

1. Uncle Quentin is Julian, Dick and Anne's father's brother?
2. Julian, Dick, Anne and George's surname is Kirrin?

If so, how come Aunt Fanny appears to be descended from the family that once owned all the land around 'Kirrin' Cottage as well as 'Kirrin' island?

Are Aunt Fanny and Julian, Dick and Anne's mother 'sisters', and did Uncle Quentin and his brother - Julian, Dick and Anne's father - marry one each, then change their surname from whatever it was to 'Kirrin'? After all, if women can change their surnames to those of their husbands, why shouldn't it work the other way round - especially if the women concerned are more able to 'provide' than their husbands?

In the first Famous Five book we are told that Uncle Quentin doesn't earn much from his academic work. So we can only presume that he was being supported mainly by his wife.

Can you understand why I am a little confused?

unclealister wrote: Am I correct in thinking that:
1. Uncle Quentin is Julian, Dick and Anne's father's brother?

Correct

2. Julian, Dick, Anne and George's surname is Kirrin?

Correct

Your confusion is quite understandable. By some incredible coincidence, both Quentin and Fanny shared the same surname prior to their marriage. (I think ) This has been the subject of much debate on these forums in the past. It could well be that Kirrin was a very common surname in that part of the country. Enid Blyton never really went into fine detail, much was left for the reader to decide!

And let's not start wondering where Barnard came from

Fiona1986 wrote:And let's not start wondering where Barnard came from

Well it comes and goes so quickly... It could be because Julian, Dick and Anne's mother remarried, so she's Mrs Barnard and the children stay as Kirrins which could account for Julian introducing them as the Kirrins on arrival at Maga Glen?

I always presumed Quentin and Fanny came from the same area and coincidentally had the same last names before they got married. There's the village of Kirrin, Kirrin Cottage, Kirrin Island, Kirrin Castle, Kirrin Bay ... it makes sense to me that there'd be lots of people with the last name of Kirrin who are probably are very distantly related.

I guess Quentin and Fanny did have the same surnames before they got married. It was the only conclusion I come to after reading the books. I guess this might be off-topic but I wonder why Quentin got married in the first place?

I imagine Quentin and Fanny to be cousins, Barnard was a complete mess-up by Enid Blyton.

centcat wrote:I guess this might be off-topic but I wonder why Quentin got married in the first place?

I can only assume that he needed someone to run a house for him!

Let's be honest - it was most likely a mistake on Blyton's part.. the books are littered with them

As to why Quentin got married .. yeah, prolly just wanted someone to look after him. Maybe he could not afford a housekeeper or something!

He was obviously so busy that they only got around to producing one child tho

Yak wrote:Let's be honest - it was most likely a mistake on Blyton's part..

I'm inclined to agree with you.

Yak wrote:As to why Quentin got married .. yeah, prolly just wanted someone to look after him. Maybe he could not afford a housekeeper or something!

Very possibly. However, I would like to think that Uncle Quentin mainly married Aunt Fanny because he was in love with her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and have a family. Maybe George was an only child because her mother had a troublesome pregnancy and birth and was advised against trying for another baby.

Or maybe she looked at George and thought - ooh no! Never again!

Oh the joys of active imaginations and no one to provide a JK Rowling type experience to fill the gaps in for us!

I don't really think he married her just to run the house, he appears to be fond of her. I'd guess that George was an only child because I can't imagine Quentin wanting another noisy baby in the house!

It's interesting that Enid comes in for criticism for inconsistencies in her books, as she's not alone. I've just finished reading Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders. In one part they visit a family in a bungalow and then go upstairs to look at the bedroom. My understanding of a bungalow is a house with only ground floor accommodation. Also early in the book a character refers to reading The Railway Children. Later Poirot 'discovers' the book in the house and uses it as evidence against the reader, strange as he'd already admitted he'd been reading the book.

My parents are cousins ​​and I share the last name too... In small towns, some inbreeding is common ...

Katharine wrote:I've just finished reading Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders. In one part they visit a family in a bungalow and then go upstairs to look at the bedroom. My understanding of a bungalow is a house with only ground floor accommodation.

Although I've read the book a million times, I've never spotted that!Of course, it might've been a bungalow with a loft conversion/dormer window. No idea on the Railway Children faux pas though.