'joanna Trevor' |
Pen name of Maureen Davies
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1947 - 2008
Born in Lydney, she grew up in a cottage on the Bledisloe estate. After a career in teaching she began writing careers guidance books for teenagers. In 1994 she had published her first of what would be six detective novels set in and around the fictional 'Westwich' (inspired by the stories, places and landscape of the Forest). |
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EARLY LIFE
Maureen Davies was born on 1st May 1947, the second of four children, with an older sister Ann (born in 1943), and two younger brothers, Glyn (born 1949) and John (born 1955). Her father, Trevor had married Joan Prosser in 1942. Joan is a granddaughter of Walter Prosser, who was for many years a water bailiff on the River Severn. Trevor saw active service during World War 2 in Iceland. Like other war time babies, Maureen's sister Ann recalls being shown photos of her father in his absence, to help her have a sense of who he was. Maureen was the first child to be born to the couple after Trevor’s return from the war. Maureen and her father had a particularly close bond, with a shared interest in gardening. Maureen was usually known as Mo.
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Maureen's father resumed his employment as gardener to Viscount Bledisloe, the family having a cottage within the Lydney Park Estate, on the outskirts of Aylburton. Ann describes the children as having had easy access to the grounds of the Lydney Park Estate, which was thus very much their playground. The then Lord and Lady Bledisloe were reportedly quite happy for estate workers children to play in the grounds. The cottage was located quite close to an entrance to the park, the children always keeping a wary eye open for ‘George’, a large stag that ruled the herd of deer kept there. It was only when George was safely out of the way that the children would venture in. One incident recalled from this period involved Ann and Mo going into the park, and up to the site of the Roman Temple. They were both aware of an archaeological dig having taken place at this site, and they spent some time scratching the grassy surface of the ground - in hopes of reaching down to the buried mosaic! Mo then found a hedgehog in the grass, and took off her pristine white vest in which to wrap the little creature and carry it home. On arrival at the cottage her mother was appalled to find the vest alive with black fleas, courtesy of the little hedgehog, which was needless to say not taken into the house!
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Mo pictured in the garden with her father Trevor Davies
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school & University
All four Davies children attended Lydney Grammar School, being admitted to Thomas House, one of four school houses each named for a local dignitary (the other houses being Marling, Bathurst and Price). Mo was clearly a creative teenager, with a sample of her art work being exhibited within the Grammar School section of Lydney Art School Exhibition in 1962. The scraperboard image, (reproduced here) was also published in the school magazine that same year.
Image courtesy of Sungreen
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Mo did well at school, becoming a prefect in 1964 and leaving in 1966 having achieved the A level passes required to undertake an English degree at York University. During her time at university Mo did a dissertation on D H Lawrence. One of her tutors at York was Laurie Taylor, sociologist and radio broadcaster. Ann describes Mo as having developed new interests and beliefs whilst attending university and it was at this time that she became a vegetarian. In later life Mo was to grow many of her own vegetables and would pass comment at family events, hoping that her relatives had ‘enjoyed eating that dead animal’! Mo started her first serious relationship whilst at university, this lasting for several years.
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early careerOn leaving university Mo initially worked as a teacher, in two very contrasting settings: one at Millfield, a private school close to Glastonbury, the other a school in Gloucester, which she described as quite rough and lacking discipline. In a move out of teaching Mo next took two posts within the schools careers service, initially in Gloucester and then at Taunton in Somerset. During this latter period the local independent television company, HTV, had a regular careers spot within one of their programmes, filmed in Bristol, with Mo being a regular co-presenter.
Sadly, during her time in Taunton Mo developed myalgic encephalopathy (ME), a condition which affected her for the remainder of her life. Also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ME can affect mobility and ability to engage in a full social and family life. Dependent upon the age of the sufferer it can affect ability to continue in education or employment. In Mo’s case fatigue often resulted in her needing to spend afternoons in bed. At or around this time Mo began to write careers guidance booklets, giving teenagers information about a range of careers, including the armed services. Ann recalls that during this period Mo commented that the Navy had entertained her far better than had the RAF, whilst she was researching for these booklets. |
booksA Gathering of Dust (1994) The Same Corruption There (1996) Time to Die (1998) A Fine and Private Place (2002) A Deadly Deceit (2004) Murder in the Cathedral Clinic (2005) |
marriage & return to the Forest
In 1983, whilst living in Somerset, Mo married a Canadian man named Bob. The marriage took place at Tiverton Registry Office in Devon. At around this time Mo changed her surname, by deed poll, to Day. Her sister comments that she did this as she had never liked the name Davies. The couple moved to the Forest, Mo buying a house in Little Drybrook. She opened a health food shop in Ross-on-Wye, with the plan for her to continue writing careers booklets whilst her husband ran the business. Sadly the marriage foundered, with her husband returning to Canada (and subsequently they divorced). Mo decided to sell the business as a going concern. Sometime later Mo relocated to a rented property once again within the Lydney Park Estate on the outskirts of Lydney, and within walking distance of her widowed mother’s house (Mo remaining there until her death in 2008). Apart from Mo’s time away at university and two periods living and working in Somerset she spent her childhood and majority of her adult life in and around the Forest of Dean.
writing career
Mo wrote under the pen name of Joanna Trevor, the Christian name being a modification of her mother’s name (Joan) and the surname being her father’s name (Trevor). Her first published book A Gathering of Dust, appeared in 1994. She was a close friend of another already published forest based author (Louise Lawrence) who offered her encouragement in her writing and practical guidance in getting her works published. Mo went on to have six works published between 1994 and 2005, all in the detective fiction genre, with the central character being DCI Simon. Although not located overtly in the Forest of Dean or Severnside, there are clear influences within several of the books of the area in which Mo grew up and lived most of her life. Ann reflects that, though set in and around the imaginary town of Westwich, the landscape described by the author frequently has resonance with the Forest and lower Severn Valley.
At least some of the books take historical local events as a starting point for story development. This is most conspicuous within her first novel A Gathering of Dust, which took its inspiration from a real life suspicious death in the Forest and subsequent murder trial of a local woman. The death of quarryman Harry Pace, aged 36 years, occurred in 1928. He and his wife Beatrice Annie Pace and their family lived near Fetter Hill, Coleford. The case attracted a lot of interest nationally, with a general public belief in the wife being innocent of poisoning her husband with arsenic. Evidence showed Harry to have been physically and psychologically violent. At the end of the trial Beatrice was found not guilty as a minimum standard of proof against her had not been established.
An account of this true story has recently been written by John Carter Wood (The Most Remarkable Woman in England – Poison, Celebrity and the Trials of Beatrice Pace (2013) published by Manchester University Press). Growing up as a child in the area less than 30 years after the murder took place, young Mo would have had some knowledge of these events.
Several of her books carry dedications to her mother, her sister and her friend Liz Holden (the real name of author Louise Lawrence). Ann reflects however that Mo did not tend to discuss her novels with family or friends as she was writing them. She never said where the inspiration for characters came from, and did not discuss her preparatory research. When Mo passed away in 2008 she was working on a seventh novel. This remains an unpublished and incomplete manuscript. No one other than Mo knew the direction the story would have taken, nor who the guilty party would have turned out to be. A very small part of this manuscript did however in fact make it into print, in a collection of works by local authors published through the Dean Writers’ Circle, Forest Leaves Book 4: Blue Funk, Lydney (2008).
At least some of the books take historical local events as a starting point for story development. This is most conspicuous within her first novel A Gathering of Dust, which took its inspiration from a real life suspicious death in the Forest and subsequent murder trial of a local woman. The death of quarryman Harry Pace, aged 36 years, occurred in 1928. He and his wife Beatrice Annie Pace and their family lived near Fetter Hill, Coleford. The case attracted a lot of interest nationally, with a general public belief in the wife being innocent of poisoning her husband with arsenic. Evidence showed Harry to have been physically and psychologically violent. At the end of the trial Beatrice was found not guilty as a minimum standard of proof against her had not been established.
An account of this true story has recently been written by John Carter Wood (The Most Remarkable Woman in England – Poison, Celebrity and the Trials of Beatrice Pace (2013) published by Manchester University Press). Growing up as a child in the area less than 30 years after the murder took place, young Mo would have had some knowledge of these events.
Several of her books carry dedications to her mother, her sister and her friend Liz Holden (the real name of author Louise Lawrence). Ann reflects however that Mo did not tend to discuss her novels with family or friends as she was writing them. She never said where the inspiration for characters came from, and did not discuss her preparatory research. When Mo passed away in 2008 she was working on a seventh novel. This remains an unpublished and incomplete manuscript. No one other than Mo knew the direction the story would have taken, nor who the guilty party would have turned out to be. A very small part of this manuscript did however in fact make it into print, in a collection of works by local authors published through the Dean Writers’ Circle, Forest Leaves Book 4: Blue Funk, Lydney (2008).
other interests & CREATIVITY
. One of Mo’s main passions was gardening, an interest perhaps inherited from, and certainly shared with, her father. Once her father retired Mo and he also used to share a cottage garden. Mo tended to use the Latin names for plants, rather than the more common names used by others in her family, and once settled in her final home in Lydney Mo’s gardening expertise extended to the development of a Japanese inspired garden. She also grew many of her own vegetables.
Mo enjoyed rag rugging, and was a skilled practitioner, making items for herself and her family. Some members of her family, including a GP cousin living in Yorkshire, commissioned Mo to make rugs for them. On one occasion Mo took samples of her work to The Conran Shop in London. They very much liked her work and would have sold her rugs, but required her to make them in greater quantities than was viable. (Picture above of one of Mo’s family pieces by kind permission of her sister Ann).
Mo continued her early interest in art, mainly reproducing sections of favourite famous paintings. Mo had no children of her own but was very close to her nephews, Ann’s sons, Antony and Matt. They would stay with her mother Joan on visits, but be entertained by Mo. She encouraged them to draw, having some of their artwork framed to put on the walls of her house. Mo also encouraged them to take part in nature activities.
Mo enjoyed rag rugging, and was a skilled practitioner, making items for herself and her family. Some members of her family, including a GP cousin living in Yorkshire, commissioned Mo to make rugs for them. On one occasion Mo took samples of her work to The Conran Shop in London. They very much liked her work and would have sold her rugs, but required her to make them in greater quantities than was viable. (Picture above of one of Mo’s family pieces by kind permission of her sister Ann).
Mo continued her early interest in art, mainly reproducing sections of favourite famous paintings. Mo had no children of her own but was very close to her nephews, Ann’s sons, Antony and Matt. They would stay with her mother Joan on visits, but be entertained by Mo. She encouraged them to draw, having some of their artwork framed to put on the walls of her house. Mo also encouraged them to take part in nature activities.
Illness & death
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Mo continued to be affected by ME throughout her life. Her death on 17th March 2008 was, however, unexpected and came at a time when her mother was herself ill in Lydney Hospital. Mo sadly died, of heart failure at the age of 60, with many more potential books unwritten. Not long before her death, on a visit to her mother in Lydney Hospital with Ann, Mo met the local vicar. She was at this time working on ‘Wages of Sin’. It may be that some aspect of research for this book led to her asking the somewhat bemused vicar if he ‘believed in God’. She was neither religious nor a churchgoer. The same vicar conducted Mo’s funeral service, at the Forest of Dean Crematorium on 27th March 2008, referring to having had some interesting conversations with her. Her friend Liz ('Louise Lawrence'), then living in Ireland, attended the funeral and a eulogy was read by a representative of the Dean Writers’ Circle.
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Report on Mo's death in The Forester, newspaper
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Research and writing of this page by Caroline Prosser.
The majority of the information in this review is based on an interview with the author’s older sister Ann, to whom thanks are given for her input and also for provision of certain of the photos and other visual materials. Unless otherwise indicated photos are provided by Ann and her family.
The majority of the information in this review is based on an interview with the author’s older sister Ann, to whom thanks are given for her input and also for provision of certain of the photos and other visual materials. Unless otherwise indicated photos are provided by Ann and her family.
