Margaret Moncrieff
Margaret Moncrieff | |
|---|---|
| Born | Helen Margaret Moncrieff 6 February 1921 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 12 November 2008 (aged 87) |
| Pen name | Helen McClelland |
| Occupation | Cellist, teacher, writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Royal College of Music |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, including Catriona Kelly |
| Relatives | Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff (father) Helen McClelland Adams (mother) |
Helen Margaret Moncrieff (6 February 1921 – 12 November 2008) was a Scottish cellist and, as Helen McClelland, the writer of a biography of Elinor Brent-Dyer and of novels in the Chalet School series.[1]
Early life
Helen Margaret Moncrieff was born in 1921 in Edinburgh, Scotland, daughter of Alexander Moncrieff, Lord Moncrieff, and Helen, née McClelland Adams, formerly Spens.[1][2]
In London, Moncrieff studied the cello at the Royal College of Music with Ivor James, and then in Paris, with Pierre Fournier.[2] She went on to a career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher.[1]
Career
Moncrieff was a professor of cello at the Royal College of Music.[1]
In 1981, she published Behind the Chalet School: A Biography of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer.[3][4] This was republished in 1996 by Bettany Press. She wrote two "fill-in" novels about the Chalet School and its characters.[5] She wrote in Behind the Chalet School that her novel Visitors for the Chalet School (1995) "became the subject of six radio interviews within the space of barely ten days, as well as being given an excellent review in the Independent on Sunday".[6]
In 2003, Moncrieff published an autobiographical account, Worlds Apart.[1]
Personal life
In 1957, Moncrieff married Alexander Kelly (1929–1996) a pianist, composer, and later head of keyboard studies at the Royal Academy of Music.[7] They had two children: cellist Alison Moncrieff Kelly, and Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian at New College, Oxford.[1]
Works
- 2001: Time and Again, a time slip novel
- 2003: Worlds Apart: Memoirs of Margaret Moncrieff Kelly
Chalet School
Montcrieff's entries in the series include:[8]
- Joey and Patricia: A Reunion in Guernsey (2000)
- Visitors to the Chalet School (2004)
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Margaret Moncrieff: cellist and writer". The Times. 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Bettany Press". ju90.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "With that quotation Helen McClelland begins her carefully studied biography of Elinor Brent-Dyer". Scottish Field. Vol. 128. 1982. p. 80. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ Booy, Miles (2025). The Chalet School Books and the Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-04-039541-7. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ Auchmuty, Rosemary (1999). A World of Women: Growing Up in the Girls' School Story. Women's Press. ISBN 978-0-7043-4538-6. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ McClelland, Helen (1996). "Chapter XXII: The Chalet School Seventy Years On". Behind the Chalet School: A Biography of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (2nd ed.). Bettany Press. ISBN 978-0952468028. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
- ^ "Obituary: Alexander Kelly". The Independent. 20 November 1996. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ Carina.org, "The Chalet School books"