Thomas (Burton novel)

Last updated

Thomas; or Beyond the Weir Bridge
Thomas (Burton novel).jpg
First edition cover
Author Hester Burton
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre War novel, Family saga
Publisher Oxford University Press (UK);
Crowell & Co. (US)
Publication date
UK: 1969
US: 1970
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages221
Preceded byOtmoor for Ever (1968) 
Followed byThrough the Fire (1969) 

Thomas is a 1969 novel by Hester Burton, published in the US as Beyond the Weir Bridge. The story follows three friends as they grow up in the political and religious turmoil following the end of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1651, including the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the 1665 Plague and the 1666 Fire of London. In common with other novels by Hester Burton, it is a well-written and historically accurate viewpoint of this period. [1]

Contents

Background and publication

In the UK, the novel was published as Thomas in 1969 by the Oxford University Press and in 1970 in the US by Crowell & Co., where the title was changed to Beyond the Weir Bridge. At the same time, Burton also published Through the Fire which explores many of the same themes but for a younger audience.

Plot summary

A weir bridge; Thorp, Washington, USA. Thorp Gristmill Weir.jpg
A weir bridge; Thorp, Washington, USA.

The three main characters are Richard, Richenda and Thomas, who gives his name to the book's UK title. We first encounter them at the age of 7, at the end of the wars modern historians customarily refer to as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

Richard's father dies of fever while serving in a Parliamentary garrison at Arundel Castle, during the First English Civil War in 1644; his death embittered his mother, who has little affection for her son and remarries a stern and unsympathetic Puritan. This is based on Thomas Springate, who died of fever at Arundel in 1644; his wife, Lady Mary Springate, was eight months pregnant but travelled to be with him. She later wrote a detailed account for her posthumous daughter, who married the Quaker leader, William Penn. [2]

Richenda is the daughter of her close friend who looks after Richard and the two grow up together; both are impulsive and strong-willed, in contrast to the third character, Thomas. His father is a Royalist who owns the local estate where Richenda's family lives but has been ruined by the war.

Richard and Richenda befriend Thomas, who is quiet and studious but also shows he is a person of integrity and courage. He demonstrates this early in the book by crossing a narrow bridge or plank laid across a local weir, hence the title used in the US of Beyond the Weir Bridge.

Quaker James Nayler being pilloried and whipped; as Quakers, Thomas and Richenda were persecuted by the Restoration government. JamesNayler-2.jpg
Quaker James Nayler being pilloried and whipped; as Quakers, Thomas and Richenda were persecuted by the Restoration government.

The novel follows the three through the turbulent period that followed the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, ending with the Great Fire of 1666. Richard is expelled from Cambridge and disowned by his parents but becomes an assistant to a London doctor. Richenda and Thomas join the Quakers, which causes a breach between Thomas and his father, as well as the three friends; Burton does a good job of explaining why memories of the recent civil war meant sects like the Quakers were seen as dangerous. This was also historically accurate, since there were a number of attempted revolts by Puritan radicals, including that led by Thomas Venner in January 1661. [3]

The Great Plague of London, 1665; collecting the dead for burial Great plague of london-1665.jpg
The Great Plague of London, 1665; collecting the dead for burial

Thomas and Richenda fall in love, marry and have a child together, with Thomas inheriting his father's lands, although they are persecuted for being Quakers. When the Plague breaks out in 1665, Richard and his master are among the few doctors to remain, an historically accurate fact; one of his patients is a young Quaker woman whose faith and humanity restores his confidence in people. Thomas feels called to go to London and help Richard tend the sick but later dies of the plague himself.

Thomas's sacrifice and his own experience changes Richard's views and he becomes far more tolerant. Richenda returns home to take over the estate, while Richard occasionally visits and it is only when the Great Fire destroys much of London in 1666 that she realises she loves him. The story ends with Richard rescuing Thomas's son as he too runs across the weir bridge.

The novel shows different responses to adversity and loss; Richard's mother and Thomas' father become bitter and intolerant as a result but Thomas and later Richard himself avoid this. Like her other books, 'Beyond the Weir Bridge' reflects the impact of inequalities in society on her protagonists, their willingness to challenge these and the importance of education in that process. [4]

Reviews and assessment

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature summarises Burton's novels as "featuring heroines with strong opinions... class tensions and social justice are recurring themes....(and) accounts of ordinary young people affected by national events." [5] Despite being titled Thomas in the UK, Richenda is the emotional heart of the story and the novel exemplifies these characteristics.

In her obituary, the Daily Telegraph described Thomas as "...perhaps her most sensitive novel." [6] It was nominated for the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1971, the winner that year being Eleanor Cameron's A Room Made of Windows.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifth Monarchists</span> English radical religious group, 1649–1660

The Fifth Monarchists, or Fifth Monarchy Men, were a Protestant sect which advocated Millennialist views, active during the 1649 to 1660 Commonwealth of England. Named after a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that Four Monarchies would precede the Fifth or establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, the group was one of a number of Nonconformist sects that emerged during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Perhaps its best known adherent was Major-General Thomas Harrison, executed in October 1660 as a regicide, while Oliver Cromwell was a sympathiser until 1653.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland</span> English courtier and politician executed by Parliament

Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, was an English courtier and politician executed by Parliament after being captured fighting for the Royalists during the Second English Civil War. Younger brother of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, a Puritan activist and commander of the Parliamentarian navy during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Henry was better known as an "extravagant, decorative, quarrelsome and highly successful courtier".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle</span> English soldier and politician (1608–1670)

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle KG PC JP was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was crucial to the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, who rewarded him with the title Duke of Albemarle and other senior positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Waller</span> English soldier and politician (d. 1668)

Sir William Waller JP was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War. Elected MP for Andover to the Long Parliament in 1640, Waller relinquished his military positions under the Self-denying Ordinance in 1645. Although deeply religious and a devout Puritan, he belonged to the moderate Presbyterian faction, who opposed the involvement of the New Model Army in politics post 1646. As a result, he was one of the Eleven Members excluded by the army in July 1647, then again by Pride's Purge in December 1648 for refusing to support the Trial of Charles I, and his subsequent execution in January 1649.

<i>The Scarlet Letter</i> 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. As punishment, she must wear a scarlet letter 'A'. Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin and guilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Dyer</span> American Quaker martyr (c. 1611 – 1660)

Mary Dyer was an English and colonial American Puritan-turned-Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony. She is one of the four executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Goodwin (preacher)</span> English preacher, theologian and prolific author

John Goodwin (1594–1665) was an English preacher, theologian and prolific author of significant books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Scrope</span>

Colonel Adrian Scrope, also spelt Scroope, 12 January 1601 to 17 October 1660, was a Parliamentarian soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and one of those who signed the death warrant for Charles I in January 1649. Despite being promised immunity after the Restoration in 1660, he was condemned as a regicide and executed in October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Myddelton (younger)</span> Welsh politician

Sir Thomas Myddelton (1586–1666) of Chirk Castle, Denbighshire, was an English-born Welsh landowner, politician, and military officer. He became a Member of Parliament in 1624; during the First English Civil War he was a prominent Parliamentarian general, despite having no previous military experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Birch (Roundhead)</span> English soldier and politician

Colonel John Birch was an English soldier and politician from Manchester, who fought for the Parliamentarian cause in the First English Civil War, and sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1691.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Livesey</span> 17th-century English Puritan activist and politician

Sir Michael Livesey, 1st Baronet, also spelt Livesay, was a Puritan activist and Member of Parliament who served in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was one of the regicides who approved the Execution of Charles I in January 1649.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Penington (Lord Mayor)</span> English politician

Sir Isaac Penington was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1642 and a prominent member of Oliver Cromwell's government.

Richard Bennett was an English planter and Governor of the Colony of Virginia, serving 1652–1655. He had first come to the Virginia colony in 1629 to represent his merchant uncle Edward Bennett's business, managing his plantation known as Bennett's Welcome in Warrascoyack. Two decades later, Bennett immigrated to the Maryland colony with his family, and settled on the Severn River in Anne Arundel County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Penn</span> Colonial American writer and religious thinker (1644–1718)

William Penn was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonial era. Penn, an advocate of democracy and religious freedom, was known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania prior to European settlements in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Berry (major-general)</span>

James Berry, died 9 May 1691, was a Clerk from the West Midlands who served with the Parliamentarian army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Characterised by a contemporary and friend as "one of Cromwell's favourites", during the 1655 to 1657 Rule of the Major-Generals, he was administrator for Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Peter Temple, 2nd Baronet</span> English politician

Sir Peter Temple, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653. He was a Parliamentarian in the English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hester Burton</span> English childrens writer (1913–2000)

Hester Burton was an English writer, mainly of historical fiction for children and young adults. She received the Carnegie Medal for her 1963 novel Time of Trial, which like many of her books was illustrated by Victor Ambrus.

The Eleven Members were members of the House of Commons of England, who were identified by commanders of the New Model Army as their principal opponents. They were suspended and forced into exile for six months; after the 1648 Second English Civil War, many were permanently removed in December 1648.

The history of Christianity in Sussex includes all aspects of the Christianity in the region that is now Sussex from its introduction to the present day. Christianity is the most commonly practised religion in Sussex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Arundel</span>

The siege of Arundel took place during the First English Civil War, from 19 December 1643 to 6 January 1644, when a Royalist garrison surrendered to a Parliamentarian army under Sir William Waller.

References

  1. Sutherland, Zena (1973). The Best in Children's Books: The University of Chicago Guide to Children's Literature 1966-1972 . University of Chicago Press. p.  59. ISBN   0226780570 . Retrieved 23 September 2018. review of Thomas by hester burton.
  2. Royle 2004, p. 276.
  3. "Venner's Uprising 1661". BCW Project. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  4. Clark, Ann Christine (2015). Historical Fiction for Children and Young People: changing fashions, changing forms, changing representations in British writing 1934-2014 (PDF). PHD Thesis for Newcastle University. p. 101. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  5. Zipes, Jack, ed. (2006). Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature . OUP. ISBN   0195146565 . Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. "Hester Burton; Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2018.

Sources