British Illustrators 6: Ronald Searle and Molesworth

In a reversal of the normal practice, the illustrator of the ‘Molesworth’ books, Ronald Searle, is far better remembered than the actual writer, Geoffrey Willans. Ronald Searle is best remembered for his St. Trinians sketches, which gave rise to some successful popular British films in the 50s, and several desperately unfunny remakes since. Searle’s loose, anarchic style perfectly fits Geoffrey Willans’ antihero Nigel Molesworth, schoolboy protagonist of “Down with Skool!” and three sequels. Molesworth is a pupil at the fictional boarding school St. Custard. Sadly I don’t think many kids still read Willans – the books are fondly remembered and treasured by any adults of a certain age, like myself , who discovered them for themselves, albeit they were already 20 years old when I first read them in the 70s. Incidentally, J.K. Rowling is about the same age as me, and I can’t help wondering if she read a lot of the same kind of books that I did at a formative age. I say this, because Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books is a direct lineal descendant of schools like St. Custard, Greyfriars in Billy Bunter, Linbury Court in Anthony Buckeridge’s Jennings books, and Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers.