The Enid Blyton Society

This may have already been covered on the boards at some stage so apologies if thats the case but I was wondering if anyone knew about Lucas from Five Have a Mystery to Solve? EB states he was a real person.

Thanks,

Nick

I think he was based on a real person that Enid met, over in Studland, (was he something to do with the golf course). I'm sure Anita and Tony will know this, Nick.

It is believed that the character of Lucas was based on golf caddy Johnny James. He was interviewed for a programme called Homeground in 2002 and I think he still worked on the golf course at Studland which was once owned by Enid Blyton and her second husband, Kenneth! That means he must have been a very young man when Five Have a Mystery to Solve was published, yet people have commented that Lucas in the book (which I must admit I haven't read for years) seems like an older man.

Anita

I was intrigued by this discussion and grabbed the book off my shelf......
The illustration shows Lucas as in his 40s or 50s maybe, and at the end of chapter six he is described as "the old countryman" then at the start of chapter seven "old Lucas". I think he comes across as older from his manner of speech, and also because he tells a long story about years gone by (much like some of the old men characters like Grandad in Down to the sea or Jeremiah Boogle from Demons Rocks) but he does say that it was all well before his time.
Interestingly, my book has a little note from Enid stating that the harbour, cottage and island are all real, and that Lucas is too!

Fiona1986 wrote: Interestingly, my book has a little note from Enid stating that the harbour, cottage and island are all real, and that Lucas is too!

IIRC, it was Poole harbour?

I was fascinated by Lucas as a child (and always thought it was a great first name for a boy should I have any when I grew up)!

I wrote to Enid's Blyton daughter, Gillian Baverstock, about him around 1983. She replied that she had no idea whom he was based on. Then Viv I think did a lot of digging and the Johnny James references came out.

Like others have said Lucas seemed like an old man to me 'telling stories of the animals and birds he loved so much'. He was a wise, old, figure in the book, patient with the children etc. It's possible though that Enid changed his age so that he wasn't so easily identifiable? I am not sure how it came out that he was based on Johnny James? Perhaps from Johnny James himself?

Fiona1986 wrote:I was intrigued by this discussion and grabbed the book off my shelf......
The illustration shows Lucas as in his 40s or 50s maybe, and at the end of chapter six he is described as "the old countryman" then at the start of chapter seven "old Lucas". I think he comes across as older from his manner of speech, and also because he tells a long story about years gone by (much like some of the old men characters like Grandad in Down to the sea or Jeremiah Boogle from Demons Rocks) but he does say that it was all well before his time.
Interestingly, my book has a little note from Enid stating that the harbour, cottage and island are all real, and that Lucas is too!

From Eileen Soper’s illustration in the paperback Knight edition of the 1971 Five Have A Mystery To Solve on page 65, Lucas does not look terribly old. I got my information about Johnny James from a BBC interview. However, for some reason, that web site has since vanished unless I make an advanced search of it. In his book, Enid Blyton and her enchantment with Dorset, Dr. Andrew Norman argues that his book was based on Johnny James, although his information very much resembles that of the BBC which had been published much earlier.

PS: http://andrew-norman.com/ideas.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the link, that was very interesting.

I guess if Johnny James knew a great deal about animals and birds and the landscape in that area then chances are it was him...I imagine as her caddy he would have had a chance to comment on the flora and fauna and Enid would have been listened attentively given her passion for that sort of thing.

Hi Lucas is real, and his character is based on my uncle Gordon James (known as Johnny James) to Enid and others at the Isle of Purbeck Golf Course in Swanage, Dorset. My Uncle worked as a green keeper on the course that Enid owned with her husband, he use to caddy for them both on a regular basis, incidentally my uncle still has the putter that Enid gave him many many years ago!

I decided to use my uncles real name as my log on as I thought those that follow the Famous Five would like to know a little more about Gordon. To confuse everyone a little more my uncle is known as Billy to his family and Johnny on the course, this often caused confusion for me as a child. Often we would walk through the town of Swanage and my uncle would be greeted by friends by the name of Johnny, Gordon or Billy depending on which part of Swanage you lived in.

My Unlce is now 81 and unfortunately not very well as he has been diagnosed recently with Lung Cancer, so this really I guess is my opportunity to reunite Billy with some fond memories, and hopefully for those that read this a real sense of the man. For those that would like to know Billy is nut brown and does have a love of the country side and the animals, he is the most kind hearted, selfless man you could wish to meet and whilst he has little precious time to spend with his friends and family he remains optmistic, positive and still puts others first, as he as always done throughout his life.

Wow that is great information, really nice to have you here on the site.

It's fascinating to learn of the real people and places that Enid's books were based on, especially as I grew up in Poole, but only found out 10 years ago that Enid Blyton had a local connection.

Thanks for the information. The book Lucas appeared in was one of my favourites as a child. Possibly because I was lucky enough to have 'proper' hardbacked version with the Eileen Soper illustrations in. I always thought he looked and sounded a lovely character.

Welcome to the forums and thanks for the information. Anything else you can think of would be greatly appreciated.
I sincerely hope the your uncle stays relatively comfortable during his illness.

Thanks very much. I'm sorry to hear that your uncle is seriously ill but it's lovely to know that he's such a warm, positive man.

Wow, what an informative post.

I wonder if there is the possibility of a Q&A article in an upcoming journal?

Gordon James wrote:so this really I guess is my opportunity to reunite Billy with some fond memories, and hopefully for those that read this a real sense of the man.

Thank you very very much for taking the time to post here with the info about your uncle.
Really sorry to hear he is not well and hope he is as comfortable as possible.
Does the illustration depicting Lucas in the books bear any resemblance at all to your Uncle at all?


It would be lovely if at all possible to see a photo of your Uncle when he worked at the golf course?

Best Wishes and many thanks again for your very informative post.

Regards

Pete