| Early 1890s |
William Champion Streatfeild, curate to Henry
Venn, marries Janet Venn, daughter of the Rector.
Ruth Streatfeild born. |
| Childhood |
| 24 December 1895 |
Mary Noel Streatfeild born. (By this time,
William is curate to his own father, Rector of Frant.) |
| 1897 |
William appointed Vicar of Amberley, and
the family moves to Amberley, in Sussex. |
| 1897 - 1902 |
Barbara, William (Bill) and Joyce Streatfeild
born. |
| 1902 |
William appointed Vicar of St Peter's Church,
and the family moves to St. Leonard's, on the south coast.
Joyce dies of tuberculosis (not yet two years old).
Ruth and Noel begin attending Hastings and St. Leonard's Ladies'
College. |
| Late 1910 |
Miss Bishop, headmistress of Hastings and
St. Leonard's Ladies' College, asks William and Janet to remove
Noel from the school at the end of term. |
| February, 1911 |
William appointed Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin
Church, and the family moves to Eastbourne.
Ruth, Noel and Barbara attend Laleham school. |
| 1913 |
Noel and Ruth see Edris Stannis (later to
be known as Ninette de Valois) perform the Dying Swan with
Lila Field's Little Wonders.
Noel leaves school, and enrols at Eastbourne School of Domestic
Economy. |
| World
War One |
| 1914 |
Begins voluntary work in the kitchens at
a hospital for wounded soldiers. |
| 1915 |
Richenda Streatfeild (youngest daughter of
William and Janet) born.
With Ruth, Noel produces two plays to support the war effort.
|
| 1916 |
Employed at Woolwich Arsenal, London, as
a munitions worker. |
| Actress |
| January, 1919 |
Begins studying at Academy of Dramatic Art. |
| 1920 - 1922 |
Tours British Isles with Charles Doran Shakespeare
Company. |
| |
Acts part in children's pantomime, and meets
troupe of child dancers. |
| 1926 |
Tours UK and then South Africa with Arthur
Bourchier Company. |
| |
Enrols in correspondence course for writing,
and has short story published in magazine. |
| October 1928 |
Departs on tour of Australia. |
| December 1928 |
William made Bishop of Lewes. |
| 17 February, 1929 |
William dies of heart attack. Noel still
in Australia, and unable to attend funeral. |
| First
Novels |
| 1930 |
Begins writing The Whicharts. |
| September, 1931 |
The Whicharts published. |
| June, 1932 |
Elected to membership of PEN. |
| Early 1936 |
Mabel Carey, children's editor of J. M. Dent
and Sons, asks Noel to write a children's story about the
theatre. |
| First
Children's Books |
| Mid 1936 |
Completes manuscript for Ballet
Shoes.
Travels to America to look into writing film scripts. |
| 28 September 1936 |
Ballet
Shoes published and is immediate best seller. |
| 1937 |
Travels with Bertram Mills Circus to research
The Circus is Coming.
|
| February 1939 |
Wins Carnegie gold medal for The
Circus is Coming. |
| World
War Two |
| 1940 - 1945 |
Voluntary work as Air Raid Warden in Mayfair
area.
Voluntary work running mobile canteen for Air Raid Shelters
in Deptford area.
Voluntary work public speaking on behalf of Women's Voluntary
Service.
Writes four adult novels, five children's books, nine romances
and innumerable articles and short stories. |
| 10 May 1941 |
Flat destroyed by bomb. |
| After
the War |
| 1947 |
Travels to America to research film studios
for The
Painted Garden. |
| 1949 |
Begins delivering lectures on children's
books. |
| 1949 - 1953 |
The
Bell Family radio serials play on the Children's
Hour, and are frequently voted top play of the year. |
| A
National Monument |
| Early 1960s |
Decides to stop writing adult novels. |
| 1963 |
A Vicarage Family,
the first of her autobiographical works, is published. |
| 1968 |
Suffers a stroke. |
| December 1976 |
Appears on Desert Island Discs. |
| July - December 1979 |
Suffers a series of small strokes, and moves
into a nursing home. |
| 1983 |
Receives the Order of the British Empire. |
| 11 September 1986 |
Dies in nursing home. |
| March, 2003 |
Blue plaque unveiled at Streatfeild House,
the former vicarage in Hastings. |
