Ronald Welch

Ronald Welch (14 December 1909 – 5 February 1982) was the pen name of the Welsh writer Ronald Oliver Felton TD, writing in English. He took the name from his wartime service in the Welch Regiment. Welch is best known for children's historical fiction. He won the 1956 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author, for Knight Crusader, the first novel in the so-called Carey Family series.

Contents

• Ronald Welch
• Notes
• Books
• Short stories
• References

Welch was born in Aberavon, West Glamorgan, Wales. He was teaching at Bedford Modern School when the Second World War broke out and was a lieutenant in its Officers' Training Corps contingent. In 1940 he was commissioned lieutenant in the Welch Regiment. He reached the rank of major and remained in the Territorial Army after the war.

He was for many years headmaster of Okehampton Grammar School in Devon.

Notes

The Carey family home is at Llansteffan Castle (or Llanstephan), Carmarthenshire, Wales. The house may be based on Plas Llanstephan.

The home of the junior branch of the Carey family (descended from Rupert Carey) is at Horton Hall, on the Gower.

The Carey family has a long-standing connection with the d'Assailly family of France. Neil and Richard Carey (and probably others) married a d'Assailly. The head of the family is the Marquis de Vernaye and the family home is near Graye-sur-Mer (see Escape From France).

The heir to the Earl (usually his eldest son) has the title Viscount Cilfrew (Cilfrew is a village near Neath, Glamorgan). Holders of the title mentioned include Denzil and Bernard Carey.

The books do not indicate a connection to the Scottish Duke of Aubigny.

The Carey coat-of-arms is a black hawk on a yellow background (see Bowman of Crecy, For the King).

Nicholas Carey/Ensign Carey and The Hawk/The Galleon are the only books that cover the same periods of time.

The books contain explicit dates and historical events so the time period covered is usually easy to calculate

Books

The Black Car Mystery (1950)

The Clock Stood Still (1951)

The Gauntlet (1951)

Knight Crusader ^† (1954) —winner of the Carnegie Medal

Sker House (1955) (writing as Ronald Felton) (perhaps based on Sker House)

Ferdinand Magellan (1955)

Captain of Dragoons ^† (1956)

The Long Bow (1957)

Mohawk Valley ^† (1958)

Captain of Foot ^† (1959)

Escape from France ^† (1960)

For the King ^† (1961)

Nicholas Carey ^† (1963)

Bowman of Crécy ^† (1966)

The Hawk ^† (1967)

Sun of York (1970)

The Galleon ^† (1971)

Tank Commander ^† (1972)

Zulu Warrior (1974)

Ensign Carey ^† (1976)

† indicates a book in the Carey family series

Short stories

"The Kings Hunt" (1963), Swift Annual 1963

"The Joust" (1968), Miscellany Five, edited by Edward Blishen

"The King's Hunt" (1970), Thrilling Stories of the Past for Boys, edited by Eric Duthie