About The Author

Elinor was educated in her birthplace town of South Shields. She claimed in later interviews to have attended Dame Allan’s School but this can only have been briefly (though she may have taught there for a short time). After finishing her education, she attended City of Leeds Training College and returned to teach in her hometown. It was around this time that she adopted the name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer.
In 1922, she published her first book – Gerry Goes to School, which became the first of the La Rochelle titles.
She was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1930.
In 1933, Elinor and her mother moved to Hereford. For a while, Elinor was a commuting governess, but she eventually opened her own school in Hereford – the Margaret Roper School. This school was closed in 1948. Elinor then devoted all her time to writing.
In 1964 Elinor moved to Redhill. She died there in 1969, and her final book was published posthumously the same year.