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#1: the Bettany family (pre School at!) Author: Laura V, Location: Merseyside

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 11:58 am
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In School at the Chalet we learn that Madge, Dick and Joey have relatives living in England. Are these relatives ever mentioned again? What happened to them?

#2: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 12:11 pm
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These are 'the aunts' that (presumably) also live in Devon/ Cornwall. I don't think we ever do hear anything about them ever again. I think it is said that they have large families and that is why Madge can't really look to them for help.

#3: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 12:16 pm
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At the end of Jo Of, when they're discussing arrangements for the Easter holidays -

Quote:

'You know we are going to London to stay with the aunts for the first week, don’t you?’
‘Yes; and I jolly well wish we weren’t!’
‘Hush, Jo! You are not to say things like that! They want us; and we couldn’t possibly be in England and not go to see them! They would never forgive us if we did that!’
‘Well, I know it’s jolly decent of them, and all that; but they bore me!’ declared Jo. ‘They will talk about taking care; and say I’m delicate; and fuss, fuss, FUSS till I want to shy things round!’
Miss Bettany laughed. ‘Poor old thing! What an awful state of mind! However, you needn’t worry! I don’t think they’ll fuss over you this time! The Tyrol has certainly made a big difference to you. You don’t look like the same girl!’

I think that's the last we ever hear of them. They sound like a couple of elderly maiden aunts, so it's possible to speculate that they were great aunts who died not long after.

#4: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:05 pm
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Although in School at they sound rather different:

Quote:

Their only relatives besides Great-Uncle William, before mentioned, were two aunts, both married, and both with large families and small means.

I guess you could speculate that these are two different sets of aunts, but the quote above is pretty unequivocal - they have only two aunts, and those aunts have large families...

Maybe there was some kind of family disaster in between the two books...?

#5: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:08 pm
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The two aren't incompatible. Especially if they have lots of boisterous, sturdy children. Jo was so delicate before School At and they would have felt responsible for her when she was staying with them so would nag at her not to do things that might make her cough

#6: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:22 pm
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That's true - I'm quite sure they are the same aunts.

The only bit that jars for me is in Jo of where the quote seems to imply that these aunts are at one location / are one entity or couple:

Quote:

going to stay with the aunts for the first week

they want us

they would never forgive us

Somehow, it just doesn't sound like Jo and Madge are going to stay with one or other of two large families - rather, it sounds like they are going to stay at one place but see two aunts.

Still compared to many EBDisms, this is just nitpicking!

#7: Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada)

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:47 pm
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Is it Great Uncle William that Dick and Mollie inherit the Quadrant from?

#8: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:52 pm
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I think The Quadrant was inherited from Dick's godfather, but I'm not sure if he (the godfather) was a relative or not.

#9: Author: Billie, Location: The south of England.

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:37 pm
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Caroline wrote:

That's true - I'm quite sure they are the same aunts.

The only bit that jars for me is in Jo of where the quote seems to imply that these aunts are at one location / are one entity or couple:

Quote:

going to stay with the aunts for the first week

they want us

they would never forgive us

Maybe the two families live right next door to each other.

#10: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:42 pm
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If they were two maiden aunts, they may well have shared a home, I suppose.

ETA - er, maybe I should have re-read the "large families" bit first Embarassed

! So what happened to all their children, Madge/Joey/Dick's cousins Confused

?

Last edited by Alison H on Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

#11: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:53 pm
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But maiden aunts wouldn't have had large families - or at least I assume not - there may be skeletons in the Bettany cupboatd.

#12: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 5:03 pm
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I suppose at a they could have lived near each other, with their large families. If they didn't live particularly close to Joey & Co then a visit to one would be a visit to both even if they didn't live in the same house.
Have to admit, it sounds like EBD had forogtton exactly what she'd written previously though!

#13: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:56 pm
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Katherine wrote:

Have to admit, it sounds like EBD had forogtton exactly what she'd written previously though!

Golly, that's not like her! Wink

#14: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:27 pm
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KB wrote:

Katherine wrote:

Have to admit, it sounds like EBD had forogtton exactly what she'd written previously though!

Golly, that's not like her! Wink

#15: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:44 pm
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KB wrote:

Katherine wrote:

Have to admit, it sounds like EBD had forogtton exactly what she'd written previously though!

Golly, that's not like her! Wink

Indeed, perhaps I'm being unfair!

#16: Author: Rosie, Location: Land of Three-Quarters Sky

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 11:27 pm
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Lesley wrote:

KB wrote:

Katherine wrote:

Have to admit, it sounds like EBD had forogtton exactly what she'd written previously though!

Golly, that's not like her! Wink

*giggling like a loon and hoping the noise of the hamster wheel is enough to cover it from my housemates*

Maybe they went to one family and then the other after?

#17: Author: Joyce, Location: Hong Kong

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:07 am
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It is strange given EBD's obsession with cousins and large families that we don't hear about the Madge/Dick/Joey's cousins. Maybe they are on the mother's side and therefore have their mother's maiden name?

I got the impression that the Bettany's dropped them except for the odd holiday home, because they weren't able to help them.

Given Joey's ability to meet complete strangers who happen to be daughters of long lost friends, I would think the odd cousin here and there would not be too difficult for her.

I think Dick did inherit the Quadrant from Great-uncle William.

Cheers,
Joyce

#18: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:55 am
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We don't hear a lot about any of the relations. Mollie Bettany's family are mentioned but we never actually "meet" them, Jack's family only feature briefly and his nephew's death is shrouded in mystery, and although Jem's sister and her children turn up we never even find out whereabouts Jem was from originally or what his parents did. It's odd, really - given the contrived CS links of some of the new girls (Adrienne being Robin's long-lost cousin!) you'd think EBD would've introduced some of the Bettanys' own cousins.

#19: Author: Hannah-Lou, Location: Glasgow

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 2:43 pm
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I think the strangest thing is that we hardly hear anything of Miss Maynard's family. Her children are cousins to Jo's children, she's Jack's brother and a fairly close family friend with whom Jo spent several holidays as a schoolgirl, yet she gets married and moves away, and is virtually never mentioned by Jo, Jack or any of their children (though admittedly maybe none of the children ever met her or her family).

#20: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:09 pm
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She does appear in Reunion - but I'll admit that is some 20 years or so since she was last in the series.

#21: Author: Joyce, Location: Hong Kong

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:04 am
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In Reunion Molly lists off all the children she has and what they are doing but frankly I got lost counting them all. She seems to have kept up the family ability to have lots of kids though cos she seems to have about 8 children. If not more.

In one sentence she says one child arrived on New Years Day and the next on Christmas the same year. She was 'tired'. No kidding.

I guess in those days without email and air travel being costly it wasn't as easy to stay in touch. The Maynards may have written to their Mackenzie cousins but we simply never hear of it. They would have also been a few years older so maybe they had very little in common.

Cheers,
Joyce

#22: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:46 pm
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Joyce wrote:

It is strange given EBD's obsession with cousins and large families that we don't hear about the Madge/Dick/Joey's cousins. Maybe they are on the mother's side and therefore have their mother's maiden name?

I got the impression that the Bettany's dropped them except for the odd holiday home, because they weren't able to help them.

Perhaps they all got killed by a bomb in the war. I don't think there's any mention of them after that.

#23: Author: Dreaming Marianne, Location: Second star to the right

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:36 pm
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Yes, that would be very neat but quite unlike EBD to think of that!

Didn't they live in Taverton - which I always took to be Tiverton? Which always makes driving through it, as I do from time to time, a touch more exciting.

#24: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:44 pm
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It could be. But typically it started out in Cornwall, and migrated to Devon. The place has no taste!!!

#25: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:36 pm
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Apologies for going a bit OT, but can anyone tell me if EBD had any specific connection with Cornwall, given that both Joey (sometimes!) and Mary Lou were from there originally? I don't think there's any mention of it in Behind the Chalet School.

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