Joyce Reason (December 1894 – 18 September 1974) was a British author of missionary biographies and historical fiction for young readers.Who Was Who Among English and European Authors, 1931-1949, Vol. 3, Gale Research Co., Detroit, 1978, p.1177Matthew Reason, "Archive, Empathy, Memory: The Resurrection of Joyce Reason". Memory Connection, Vol.2, No.1, 2016, Matthew-Reason.pdf
Life and works Joyce Reason was born in Canning Town, London. Her father, Will Reason, was a Congregational minister who campaigned and wrote around themes of social justice and poverty (books such as Poverty, Drink and the Community, Homes and Housing, Christianity and Social Renewal). Both her parents were university graduates.
Reason contracted rickets as a child, which left her with a slight limp. In 1900, the Reason family was living in the North London suburb of Friern Barnet.Matthew Reason op.cit She was educated at Milton Mount College in Gravesend, Kent, an educational institution for the daughters of Congregational ministers, although other pupils could attend.
In a memoir of his great-aunt, Matthew Reason writes: "In following traces of her life, through both public archives and private collections in attics and cupboards, I discovered that as well as a writer she was an idealist, an evangelist, a bluestocking, a spinster, a crank, and a missionary."
She was a keen hiker and her article 'A Lone Woman's Hike from Glastonbury to Winchester' appeared in the first issue of the Hiker and Camper (February 1931).Adam Stout, Creating Prehistory: Druids, Ley Hunters and Archaeologists in Pre-war Britain. Blackwell Publishing, 2008, pp.185-6 She was considered an authority on the Kibbo Kift movement.Manchester Guardian, 17 December 1927. Notice of address by Miss Joyce Reason, "What is this Kibbo Kift?" Under the woodcraft name of Sea Otter, she was accorded at various times the titles of Skald (storyteller), Folklorist and Nomad Chief of the North. She left the movement in the 1930s due to its politicisation to begin a new career as a writer.
Reason was a prolific author of popular missionary biographies and accounts of the work of the London Missionary Society. She wrote missionary biographies of Mary Aldersey of China,Joyce Reason, The Witch of Ningpo: Mary Aldersey. Eagle books, 1940. James Chalmers of Papua,Joyce Reason, Tales from Chalmers: Stories Based on the Autobiography of James Chalmers, Missionary in Papua. London: Livingstone Press, 1942. Albert Cook of Uganda,Joyce Reason, Safety Last: The Story of Albert Cook of Uganda. London: Highway Press, 1954.George Craig. Shorter Notices: Review of Safety Last: The Story of Albert Cook of Uganda. In: Oxford Journals, African Affairs, 1955, p242 Cited in: Gerald H. Anderson. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999 William Kendall Gale of Madagascar,Joyce Reason, Go and Find It!:[William Kendall Gale of Madagascar. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1942 Wilfred Grenfell of Labrador,Joyce Reason, Deep-Sea Doctor: Wilfred Grenfell. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1941 James Hannington of Uganda,Joyce Reason, Bishop Jim: The Story of James Hannington. Lutterworth Press, 1955 Griffith John of China,Joyce Reason, Griffith John of China: A Biography. Eagle Books, London, 1950 David Jones of Madagascar,Joyce Reason, Storm over Madagascar: David Jones. London: Edinburgh House, 1957 Liang Fa of China,Joyce Reason, Bold Smuggler: Liang A-Fa of China, London, Edinburgh House Press, 1960 Henry Nott of the South Seas,Joyce Reason, The Bricklayer and the King: Henry Nott of the South Seas. Eagle Books, London, 1938. Ruatoka of Papua,Joyce Reason, Take My Life: Ruatoka of Papua. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1947. Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand,Joyce Reason, No Road for his Coach: Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand. Eagle Books, London, 1961. Howard Somervell of India,Joyce Reason, Heights After Everest: Howard Somervell of India. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1954. and others.See for example: Cecil Northcott and Joyce Reason. Six Missionaries in Africa: Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, James Stewart, Alexander Mackay, Mary Slessor, Albert Cook. London: Oxford University Press, 1947 She also wrote popular biographies of John Bunyan,Joyce Reason, To be a Pilgrim: The Story of John Bunyan. Lutterworth Press, 1961 Robert Browne,Joyce Reason, Henry Barrowe (1550-1593) and John Greenwood ( -1593:). Independent Press, 1961 Henry Barrowe,ditto William Penn,Joyce Reason, Quaker Cavalier: The Story of William Penn. Lutterworth Press, 1965. Isobel KuhnJoyce Reason, Searcher for God: The story of Isobel Kuhn. Lutterworth Press, 1963 and Sadhu Sundar Singh of India.Joyce Reason, The Man who Disappeared: Sundar Singh of India. London: Edinburgh House Press, 1937
In September 1951, Joyce Reason joined the headquarters staff of the Leprosy Mission as Editorial Secretary for a five-year term.Leprosy Mission, This Spreading Tree: The Story of the Leprosy Mission from 1918 to 1970. Leprosy Mission, London, 1974. She visited Uganda and Tanganyika to write an account of the Mission's work in East Africa, and also visited the Church of Scotland's leprosy settlement at Chogoria in Kenya.Joyce Reason, Laughter of the Desert. Illustrated by L.F. Lupton. Mission to Lepers, London, 1952
Joyce Reason was a noted advocate of Christian books and in 1950 was a featured speaker at the Christianity in Books Exhibition at Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, together with the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral.The Times, 11 October 1950, p.7 She believed there was empirical evidence for the existence of the human soul. In response to a letter by a Professor Crew about life-termination by the individual, she suggested that the professor had not investigated evidence from ESP and psychology for regarding our lives as a part of something "much larger and more enduring".Manchester Guardian, 8 November 1968
Reason was noted as an author of historical fiction for young people.Kenneth Charlton, Recent Historical Fiction for Secondary School Children. London: Historical Association, 1969 Reviewers praised her books for their well-researched historical backgrounds, strong stories and colourful personalities. Her novel The Mad Miller of Wareham is set in King John's time in Dorset and concerns a plot to put Arthur of Brittany on the throne.School Librarian and School Library Review, Vol.7, School Library Association, 1954. pp.21,144 The towns, villages, abbeys and priories of Dorset, where the tale is set, are creditably brought to light and more than one of the characters is drawn in the round and exists as a person.Mary Crozier, "Back to Earth". Manchester Guardian, 9 April 1954, p.11. The novel To Capture the King, concerns a Jacobite plot and smuggling on the Sussex coast, with incidental glimpses of Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole.The texture of history is less closely woven in this but the story is exciting.Mary Crozier, "Archery to Art History". Manchester Guardian, 23 March 1956, p18.The American Journal of Education, Vol.88, 1979-1996, p.371
Bran the Bronze-Smith: A Tale of the Bronze Age in the British Isles is a story a boy in prehistoric Britain who becomes a travelling smith and eventually a master smith.Agatha L. Shea, "Thrilling Book has its Setting in Bronze Age". Chicago Daily Tribune, 20 Aug 1932 Hannah J. Logasa, Historical Fiction and other Reading References for History Classes in Junior and Senior High Schools, The University of Chicago High School. Swords of Iron is set in Pre-Roman Britain.Geoffrey Trease, Tales out of School, Heinemann Educational Books, 1964, p.104 The Secret Fortress deals in traditional style with the last age of Viking rule in Cumberland.Marcus Crouch. The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel 1972 1945-1970, London: Benn, 1972. p.59 The Queen's Champions is a story of a plot against Queen Elizabeth I and how a young boy plays an important part in averting disaster.School Librarian and School Library Review, Vol.15, School Library Association, 1967. p.60 Red Pennons Flying is a tale set during the Hundred Years' War.
She also wrote Dwifa's Curse: A Tale of the Stone Age under the nom-de-plume "Blue Wolf". It is set in Stone Age Britain, just at the time the earlier Neolithic people are coming into contact with later Stone Age people armed with the bow and more advanced in civilisation.The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, Vol. 133, J.W. Parker and Son, 1922, p.154Dwifa's Curse (plot summary)
She produced a number of works for the Sunday School "rewards" market which are still occasionally reprinted.Principally: Three Secret Seeds (1964), The Fire Escape (1965), Mrs Townsend and a Puppy (1967), Jim All Alone (1969), Josephine Jane (1970), and The Black and White Twins (1970). The copyrights of these and many of her other works are now held by Lutterworth Press.
For the last 20 years of her life at least, Joyce Reason, a Congregationalist by denomination, lived at 102 Addison Rd, Guildford. She was not married and for much of her life lived with her younger sister, the chemist and teacher Hazel Alden Reason, who was also unmarried.
A number of her books have been translated into French, German and Swedish.
Selected juvenile fiction Bran the Bronze-Smith. Illustrated by the author. (1930, repr.1939,1961) Prentices and Clubs! A Tudor Tale. (1947) The Secret Fortress. (1949) Swords of Iron. (1956) The Mad Miller of Wareham. Illustrated by S. Van Abbé. (1949, repr. 1954) The Queen's Champions. Illustrated by Trevor Stubley. (1966) To Capture the King: The Story of a Jacobite Plot. (1956) Three Secret Seeds
Selected factual books A Fellowship of Churches, 1662-1962: A Short History of the witness of the Guildford and District Congregational Churches (1962) Looking at India Deep-sea doctor The trail of Lady Lisle in 1685 Storm over Madagascar
References
External links WorldCat Identities: Joyce Reason