Lavinia Derwent

Lavinia Derwent
Born	Elizabeth Dodd 1909 Cheviot Hills, England
Died	1989
Pen name	Lavinia Derwent
Occupation	Writer and broadcaster
Nationality	British
Genre	Children's fiction, adult fiction
Notable works	The Sula quartet

Lavinia Derwent was the pen name of Scottish author and broadcaster Elizabeth Dodd MBE (1909–1989). Derwent was born in an isolated farmhouse in the Cheviot Hills some seven miles from Jedburgh. She began making up stories about animals at an early age. She also wrote a version of Greyfriars bobby. Her autobiographical books, include her Border and Manse series. Border Bairn is set around her home town of Jedburgh, while Lady of the Manse has a Berwickshire setting. Derwent's Manse books drew on her experiences of keeping her brother's house in order. Her brother was a Church of Scotland minister.

Derwent's first successful series was her Tammy Troot stories. They were read out in the 1920s on Auntie Kathleeen's Children's Hour on Scottish Radio. The first of the books was published in 1947. They were still being reprinted in the 1970s. In the 1970s she co-presented the television series Teatime Tales (alternating with Molly Weir and Cliff Hanley) on STV in which she recollected stories from her own childhood.

Derwent wrote a best-selling book about a fictional island called Sula which later featured in BBC's Jackanory, read by John Cairney. It was also made into a television series. The original novels were: Sula,Return to Sula,The Boy From Sula and Song of Sula.

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