Historical information

This book, written for girls by the English novelist, Bessie Marchant, was given as a prize to Claire Gilbert. She was the daughter of Roy and Miriam Gilbert and lived in Coulstock Street. Her father worked at Swintons Store in Warrnambool. She would have been at school in the 1940s. She married a farmer, Ainslie Crothers. It is presumed that ‘Y.W.L’ stands for ‘Young Women’s League’, but no Warrnambool group with this name has been found (apart from a Young Women’s Association run by the Presbyterian Church in the 1920s).

Significance

This book is of interest as it belonged to a local girl, Claire Gilbert, at school in the 1940s.

Physical description

This is a hard cover book of 152 pages with 16 pages at the back giving information on other books published by the same company. The cover is green with the title information enclosed in dark red text boxes with green printing. The spine has red printing with red lines and squares for ornamentation. The inscription is handwritten in black ink on a printed book plate pasted onto the first page. There is a colour plate at the beginning of the story.

Inscriptions & markings

‘2nd prize Awarded to Claire Gilbert, Y.W.L., Warrnambool’