Elisabeth Beresford, MBE, known as Liza Beresford, was an English author of children's books, best known for creating The Wombles.
14 Facts About Elisabeth Beresford
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Elisabeth Beresford's father was JD Beresford, a successful novelist who worked as a book reviewer for several papers.
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Elisabeth Beresford's godparents included Walter de la Mare, who dedicated poems to her, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, and the children's writer Eleanor Farjeon.
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Elisabeth Beresford began training as a journalist, and was writing radio, film and television columns and working as a BBC radio reporter.
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Elisabeth Beresford married BBC tennis commentator and broadcaster Max Robertson in 1949.
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Elisabeth Beresford struggled as a children's author and freelance journalist in the 1960s.
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The name "Wombles" was inspired by her daughter Kate's mispronunciation when Elisabeth Beresford took her children to Wimbledon Common for a Boxing Day stroll.
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That same day, Elisabeth Beresford made a list of Womble names.
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The Wombles' names came from sources as varied as the town where Elisabeth Beresford's daughter went on a French exchange and the name of the college attended by a nephew.
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Elisabeth Beresford took part in live phone-ins with children in Australia.
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Apart from her Wombles books, Elisabeth Beresford wrote various adventure and mystery books for children, many based on the island of Alderney, where she lived in a 300-year-old cottage in St Anne.
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Elisabeth Beresford collaborated with Jane Aireton on a children's television series for Channel Television, Bertie the Bat in 1990 and The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey for ITV Anglia between 1996 and 1999.
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Elisabeth Beresford was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to children's literature in the 1998 New Year Honours.
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Elisabeth Beresford died at 10:30 pm on 24 December 2010 in Alderney's Mignot Memorial Hospital.