Joan Coggin (22 July 1898 – 11 August 1980) was a British crime writer during the golden age of detective fiction. She also wrote children's novels under the pseudonym Joanna Lloyd.
Joan Coggin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 July 1898 Lemsford, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 11 August 1980 (aged 82) Eastbourne, East Sussex, England |
| Pen name | Joanna Lloyd |
| Occupation | |
| Genre |
|
| Literary movement | Golden Age of Detective Fiction |
Early life
editCoggin was born in Lemsford, Hertfordshire in 1898, the daughter of the Revd Frederick Ernest Coggin (1859–1947) and his wife Clara (née Lloyd) (1866–1906); Clara Lloyd was the daughter of the publisher Edward Lloyd. At the time of her birth, her father was Vicar of Lemsford (1891–1905); his successor, the Revd A.E. Ward (1905–1920), was the father of the society osteopath, Stephen Ward.[1]
Joan Coggin was one of four children. Her siblings were:
- Maurice Edward Henry, who married Eleanora Illeris, a member of the SOE during WWII.[2] Their daughter Janet Coggin was a novelist, and the first wife of the KGB spy Dieter Gerhardt.[3]
- (Frederick) Leslie, who was a schoolmaster: in 1937 he travelled to Moscow to learn Russian and thereby set up the Russian department at Marlborough College.[4] He married Elaine Wood, the headmistress of the Geelong C of E Girls' Grammar School, The Hermitage in the 1960s.
- Enid, who married another clergyman, Geoffrey Hilder.[5]
Immediately prior to her mother's early death, Coggin's father retired to Eastbourne; on her death he was left the large sum of £54,871[6] (worth £4m in 2017). Apart from her schooling, Coggin lived the rest of her life in Eastbourne.[7]
Coggin attended Wycombe Abbey School from 1911 to 1916, and was then a ward nurse at the De Walden Court Military Hospital in Eastbourne during the remainder of the First World War.[8]
Literary career
editHer crime novels featured Lady Lupin Lorimer Hastings, a clergyman's wife, as her detective. She also wrote children's novels under a pseudonym.
List of works
editCoggin's first novel was And Why Not Knowing (1929).[9]
Crime novels
edit- Who Killed the Curate? (1944). Republished 2023.[10]
- The Mystery at Orchard House (1944). Republished 2003.
- Penelope Passes or Why Did She Die? (1947). Republished 2003.
- Dancing with Death (1947). Republished 2022.[11]
Children's novels
editShe also wrote children's novels as Joanna Lloyd.[12]
- Betty of Turner House (1935).
- Girls’ Adventure Book (1935).
Most of her children's novels were in a series called Bramber Manor.
- Catherine Goes to School (1945).
- Jane Runs Away from School (1946).
- Catherine, Head of the House (1947).
- Audrey, A New Girl (1948).
- Three New Girls (1949).
Personal life
editCoggin was unmarried; she died in 1980. She died at Southfields Nursing Home in Eastbourne.[13] Her funeral was a requiem mass at St Michael and All Angels in Eastbourne[14] and she was buried at Ocklynge Cemetery.[15]
References
edit- ^ "St John's, Lemsford: History". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ "National Archives: Eleanora Coggin". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ "The Independent: "Janet Coggin – The Spy Who Lied to Me", 28 March 1999". Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Tower and Town: Russian Studies at Marlborough". Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "A Meads Engagement", Eastbourne Gazette, 7 December 1938, p 3.
- ^ Probate Register, 1906, p 113.
- ^ "Death of Miss Joan Coggin", Eastbourne Gazette, 20 August 1980, p 2.
- ^ "Death of Miss Joan Coggin", Eastbourne Gazette, 20 August 1980, p 2.
- ^ J.O.B., "Review: And Why Not Knowing", Eastbourne Chronicle, 21 September 1929, p 11.
- ^ "Galileo Publishing: Who Killed the Curate?". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ "Galileo Publishing: Dancing with Death". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ "Good Reads: Joanna Lloyd". Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Death of Miss Joan Coggin", Eastbourne Gazette, 20 August 1980, p 2.
- ^ "Death of Miss Joan Coggin", Eastbourne Gazette, 20 August 1980, p 2.
- ^ St Michael and All Angels, Eastbourne, parish burials register 1962-1982, page 42.