Betty Ladler


Mary 'Betty' Newmarsh Woolcock, née Ladler, was an English artist and illustrator, most notable for her illustrations in books written by Enid Blyton.

Life, work and death

Betty Ladler was born in Hendon, Middlesex in 1914. She joined the Women's Land Army during the second World War. She was a prolific illustrator predominantly of children's books for the publisher Blackie and Son. Most of her life was spent in England but she travelled extensively and drew images taken from her time in the Middle and Far East and the Swiss Alps. Her home was in the village of Coombe, near Wooton under Edge, South Gloucestershire where she died in 2004.

Personal life

She married John Uglow Woolcock in 1957.

Exhibitions

Ladler exhibited Saloon Bar at the Royal Academy in 1944, Flower Study in 1945 and Flowers in Sunlight in 1947.

Partial bibliography

  • The Sound of Pens
  • Alison and the Witch's Cave
  • Sally Scatterbrain
  • Blackie's Girl School Story Omnibus
  • Study Number Six
  • Sally Again
  • Flora at Kilroinn
  • The Secret of the Silver Bottle
  • Third Holiday Book
  • Tenth Holiday Book
  • Eleventh Holiday Book
  • Enid Blyton's Magazine
  • 'Do My Best' Brownie Book
  • The Hand of the Law
  • Morning Light
  • Collins Girls' Annual
  • The Pearl Book of Girl Guide Stories
  • Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Annual
  • ''Polly of Primrose Hill''