Isabel M. Peacocke

Isabel M. Peacocke was born in Davenport, Auckland in 1881. Her father was Gerald Loftus Torin Peacocke, a Madeira-born English barrister and editor of the New Zealand Farmer, and her grandfather the landscape artist Ponsonby Peacocke. She first began her foray into storytelling in 1906, when she was the sole teacher at the Dilworth School, a school for boys in poverty. It was here that her stories for children began, and she would eventually publish 25 novels total. She wrote humorous stories from her observations of working with children, and the characters within the folk tales displayed the character and personality of the world around her. Although she wrote 16 novels for adults as well, her stories for children are what many remember her for, because of the stories’ lasting impression. Up till her death, Peacocke was involved with the Auckland literary scene, and would contribute to the New Zealand Herald. She died of heart failure in 1973.