Ursula Bloom

Ursula Bloom (1892–1984) was a British novelist.

Biography

Born 11 December 1892 in Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex, Ursula Harvey Bloom was the daughter of the Reverend James Harvey Bloom, whom she wrote about in a biography entitled Parson Extraordinary. She also wrote about her great-grandmother, Frances Graver (born 1809) who was of gypsy (Diddicoy) breeding. Graver became known as The Rose of Norfolk, (the title of the book by Ursula Bloom). Ursula Bloom lived for a number of years in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was the subject of her book, Rosemary for Stratford-upon-Avon ^[1]

She wrote her first book at the age of seven. Charles Dickens was always a dominant influence; she had read every book of his before she was ten years of age, and then re-read them in her teens. A prolific author, she wrote over 500 books, an achievement that earned her recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records. Many of her novels were written under pseudonyms, including Sheila Burns, Mary Essex, Rachel Harvey, Deborah Mann, Lozania Prole and Sara Sloane.^[2] She appeared frequently on British television. Her journalistic experiences were written about in her book The Mightier Sword^[3]

Her hobbies included needlework, which she exhibited, and cooking.

Ursula Bloom married twice. Her first husband was Arthur Brownlow Denham-Cookes, whom she married in 1916 and with whom she had a son, Pip, born in 1917. Arthur was killed in battle in 1918. In 1925 she married Charles Gower Robinson, a Royal Navy Commander.

Works

• The Duke of Windsor
• Victorian Vinaigrette
• The Song of Philomel
• The Elegant Edwardian
• Youth at the Gate
• Down to the Sea in Ships
• War isn't Wonderful
• Twilight of a Tudor
• The Dragonfly
• The Flight of the Falcon
• The Ring Tree
• The Girl Who Loved Crippen (The Story of Dr Crippen and Ethel Le Neve)
• Parson Extraordinary (About Bloom's father - The Reverend Harvey Bloom) ^[4]
• Rosemary for Stratford-upon-Avon (Written about the town by Bloom while she was living there) ^[5]
• Rosemary for Frinton (Norfolk - UK)
• The Rose of Norfolk (About Bloom's Great Grandmother - Frances Graver) ^[6]
• Tea Is So Intoxicating (as Mary Essex)
• The Amorous Bicycle (as Mary Essex)
• Haircut For Samson (as Mary Essex)
• Nesting Cats (as Mary Essex)
• Eve Didn't Care (as Mary Essex)
• Marry To Taste (as Mary Essex)
• Freddy For Fun (as Mary Essex)

Footnotes

1. Detail from a copy of The Rose of Norfolk published by Robert Hale (London) in 1964
2. http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/bloom.htm
3. Facts from a copy of The Rose of Norfolk published by Robert Hale (London) in 1964
4. Detail taken from a copy of the The Rose of Norfolk by Ursula Bloom published by Robert Hale (London) in 1964
5. Detail taken from a copy of The Rose of Norfolk
6. Detail taken from a copy of the book published by Robert Hale (London) in 1964.