Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1900-1965 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
2 vols
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Berta Ruck (1878-1978), novelist, was born Amy Roberta Ruck in the Punjab, India, on 2 August 1878. She was the eldest of the eight children of Lieutenant (later Colonel) Arthur Ashley Ruck (1847-1939) of Esgair and Pantlludw, Merioneth, and Elizabeth Eleanor (née D'Arcy, 1852-1928). She came to Britain aged two to live with her grandmother in Merioneth, then with her father's return from India the family moved to Lancashire. In 1888 Col. Ruck was appointed Chief Constable of Caernarvonshire and the rest of Ruck's childhood was spent in Caernarfon and Bangor, where she attended St Winifred's School as a boarder. She then studied at Lambeth School of Art, the Slade School of Fine Art (from 1901) and at the Académie Colarossi in Paris (1904-5). In 1909 she married fellow novelist and Slade alumnus Oliver Onions (1873-1961) (he changed his name by deed poll to George Oliver in 1918). They had two children, (George) Arthur Oliver (b. 1912) and William Richard ('Bill') Oliver (1913-2007). Meanwhile Merioneth continued to play an important part in Ruck's life with her parents having returned permanently to Esgair in 1912. In 1903 Ruck began a career as an illustrator for magazines such as The Idler and The Jabberwock. From 1905 she began to contribute short stories and serials to magazines such as Home Chat. One such serial was published as a full-length novel, His Official Fiancée (London, 1914), and its success marked the beginning of Ruck's career as a popular romantic novelist. She produced up to three books annually, as well as short stories and articles; her last novel, Shopping for a Husband (London, 1967), appeared when she was nearly ninety. She also published several memoir-style works: A Story-Teller Tells the Truth (London, 1935), A Smile for the Past (London, 1959), A Trickle of Welsh Blood (London, 1967), An Asset to Wales (London, 1970), and Ancestral Voices (1972). In later life she was a public speaker and occasional radio broadcaster and in 1970 she appeared in a documentary for the television series Yesterday's Witness. Between the wars she lived in Henley on Thames, Windsor and Hampstead and was active in London society; she was friends with various writers, artists, actors, aviators and other notables of the day. Her interests included aviation; her son Bill became an RAF and airline pilot and she herself enjoyed flying. She travelled widely in Europe, especially France, Germany and Austria (she was particularly fond of Vienna where she stayed often and had many friends) and visited the United States. In September 1939, with the outbreak of war, she and her husband left London and settled in Aberdyfi, Merioneth, where she lived for her remaining years. She died on 12 August 1978, a few days after her one-hundredth birthday.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Purchased from Eric Stevens, Rare & Scholarly Books, London, May 1999.; B1999/16
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Two scrapbooks relating to the novelist Oliver Onions (1873-1961), husband of the novelist Berta Ruck (1878-1978), the first mainly containing press cuttings of reviews of his works of fiction, 1900-12, including The Compleat Bachelor (London, 1900), The Odd-Job Man (London, 1903) and Little Devil Doubt (London, 1909); and the second compiled by Berta Ruck containing press cuttings, 1946-65, mostly relating to his novels Poor Man's Tapestry (London, 1946), Arras of Youth (London, 1949), A penny for the harp (London, 1951) (see NLW MS 20805C for a corrected typescript), and A shilling to spend (London, 1965); together with obituary notices; and letters from family members, writers and publishers including Dorothy Charques, undated, Rupert Croft-Cooke, 1949, Olwen Caradoc Evans, 1956, John Gawsworth, 1947, Pat Lawlor, 1955, Moray Maclaren, 1957, Martin Secker, 1965, and Raleigh Trevelyan, 1965.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access
Conditions governing reproduction
Normal laws of copyright apply
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Preferred citation: NLW ex 1993-4