Bithia Mary Croker. - Novelist. 

(1847 - 1920)

B. M. Sheppard¹ was born in Warrenpoint, Co. Down, on 28th. May 1847 (this was her mothers home-place and she may have been staying with her family (the Watsons) at the time?). She was the daughter of William Sheppard who was Anglican Rector of Kilgefin, Co. Roscommon from 1853 to 1856². Bithia spent some of her childhood in Kilgefin, and for this reason she is generally accepted as being a Roscommon author³. She was educated in England and France. In 1871 she married Lt. Col. John Stokes Croker (1844 - 1911), an officer of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and Royal Munster Fusiliers, and they lived in Rathangan, Co. Kildare, where it is possible their only child, a daughter, was born in 1872. They travelled to Madras in India in 1877 and lived in India and Bengal for 14 years. Many of her stories were written at the hill-station at Wellington. On Colonel Croker’s retirement in 1892 they came to live in Bray, Co. Wicklow. In 1897 they moved to England and she died there on 20th. October 1920. She is buried in Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone, Kent.

B. M. Croker is known worldwide for her books, (which have been translated into several languages), but she also wrote at least one play and several short-stories. (follow links for more details).

1: Spelled variously: Shepherd (Maher), Shepard (Ganly) and Sheppard (Kelly).

2: "Kilgefin Church of Ireland" by Jim Ganly in "Journal of Roscommon Historical & Archaeological Society", Vol. 11 (2009). pp.80 - 82. Photograph above from this source. Used with permission of the author.

3: "Roscommon Authors" by Helen Maher. Roscommon. (1978). pp.27 - 29.

"The Life and Works of B. M. Croker - Irish Novelist"

by Seamus Kelly (Kildare). 2007.

Other references to the author:

"Bithia Mary Croker; An almost Forgotten Novelist" by S. Kelly in "Irelands Own", Christmas 2005.

"An Interview with Mrs. Croker" by Helen C. Black (1896). Reprinted in "Mistress of the Macabre. Vol. 3". R. Dalby. 2000.

"Mrs. B. M. Croker - An Obituary" in "Irish Book Lover". 1920.

"Nineteenth-Century Fiction" Vol. 1 by Robert Lee Wolff. 1981.

We don't have copies of these references but would like to obtain

them if anyone has same? Please contact us.

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Supernatural Tales - "Ghost stories" by B. M. Croker.

B. M. Croker is, perhaps, better remembered for her "ghost stories" that for her general prose. Any random search for "B. M. Croker" on the internet is more likely to find this information! The following is a short list of some of her work in this field.

To Let. Chatto & Windus (London). 1893. Includes; "The Dark Bungalow at Dakor", "The Former Passengers", "If You See Her Face", "The Khitmatgar", "To Let".

In The Kingdom of Kerry and Other Stories. Chatto & Windus (London). 1896. Includes; "The First Comer", "Her Last Wishes", "The Red Woollen Necktie".

Jason and Other Stories. Chatto & Windus (London). 1899. Includes; "Mrs. Ponsonby's Dream", "Trooper Thompson's Information".

 

A State Secret and Other Stories. Methuen & Co (London). 1901. Includes; "An Unexpected Invitation".

The Old Cantonment, with Other Stories of India and Elsewhere. Methuen & Co (London), 1905. Includes; "La Carcassonne", "The Door Ajar", "The Helper", "The Little Brass God", "Who Knew the Truth?".

Odds and Ends. Hutchinson & Co (London). 1919. Includes; "The Creaking Board", "The North Veranda", "The Red Bungalow", "The Sword of Lanbryde".

The first 12 pages and inside cover of the scrap-book contains newspaper cuttings for Augustus Pitou's dramatization of her book "Terence"* (1899). The reviews are from America and are dated 1903. (More Information). There are then 4 pages of reviews for the novel "In Old Madras" (1913) These are all English papers and one is dated 1913. 10 pages follow of English reviews for "Lismoyle" (1914) and are dated to that year. There are then 3 pages of reviews for an English theatrical production of "Terence" dated 1909. The centre pages of the book are blank. 3 pages of undated British reviews for "The Serpents Tooth" (1912) begin at the back of the book. Then 2 pages for "A Nine Days Wonder" (1904), dated 1905, 4 pages for "Katharine the Arrogant" (1909), dated 1909 and 2 pages for "The Old Cantonment" (1905), dated 1905, all from English newspapers.

Images not to scale.

B. M. Croker is credited with 50 novels and short stories, dating from her first "Proper Pride" in 1882 to her last "The House of Rest" (published after her death), in 1921. Her writing has been described as witty & fast moving. Most of her works went through numerous reprints and some were translated into French, Spanish and German. Recently some have been translated and printed in Eastern Europe, (20 of her books have been translated into Hungarian) and a number have also been reprinted in the USA & Japan, both in hard copy & as e-books.

"Her Own People" & "Katherine the Arrogant" Hurst and Blackett Ltd., (No date: 1st. Ed: 1903) & Methuen & Co. Ltd. (1907).

If you are interested in this writers' books, a full list of her English language editions is given in "The Life and Works of B. M. Croker - Irish Novelist" by Seamus Kelly, (Kildare, 2007) (left) and all of the authors original books in English (and a good selection of later, mostly English, editions) are contained in "Roscommon Authors" by Helen Maher, (Athlone, 1978). A substantial list of what may be all or certainly most editions of her work can be found at The Internet Speculative Fiction Database. If you are a fan, we hope you find this link useful.

"Given in Marriage", "Blue China" & "The Serpent's Tooth"

Paperbacks published by Leisure Library Co. Ltd., London & Hutchinson's.

("The Serpents Tooth" is inscribed Xmas 1913 (original hardback was 1912). "Blue China" is a "Fourpenny Novels" of 1919 (it's publication date) or later  and "Given in Marriage" is a  "Threepenny Novels" from the 1916 - 1919 period).

"The Youngest Miss Mobray". Published by Hurst & Blackett Ltd., London. No date (original 1906). In colour dust jacket. The Sovereign Library.

"Quicksands" Published by Cassell & Co. London. 1919 (original 1915).

Images not to scale.

Short English Language Bibliography:

A list of her English language titles is given below. Where Roscommon County Library holds a copy it is marked with a ♣.

Pretty Miss Neville. (1883) ♣

Some One Else. (1885) ♣

A Bird of Passage. (1886) ♣

Diana Barrington: A romance of central India. (1888) ♣

Two Masters. (1890)

Interference. (1891) ♣

A Family Likeness: A Sketch in the Himalayas. (1892) ♣

To Let. (1893)

A Third Person. (1893) ♣

Mr. Jervis. (1894) ♣

Married or Single? (1895) ♣

Village Tales and Jungle Tragedies. (1895) ♣

In the Kingdom of Kerry, and Other Stories. (1896) ♣

The Real Lady Hilda. (1896) ♣

Beyond the Pale. (1897) ♣

Miss Balmaine's Past. (1898) ♣

Peggy of the Bartons. (1898) ♣

Infatuation. (1899) ♣

Jason, and Other Stories. (1899)

Terence. (1899) ♣

A State Secret and Other Stories. (1901) ♣.

Angel: A Sketch in Indian Ink.

(1901) ♣

The Cat's-Paw. (1902) ♣

Her Own People. (1903) ♣

Johanna. (1903) ♣

The Happy Valley. (1904) ♣

A Nine Day's Wonder. (1905) ♣

The Old Cantonment, and Other Stories of India and Elsewhere. (1905) ♣

The Youngest Miss Mowbray. (1906) ♣

The Company's Servant: A Romance of Southern India. (1907) ♣

The Spanish Necklace. (1907) ♣

Katherine the Arrogant. (1909) ♣

Babes in the Wood: A Romance of the Jungles. (1910) ♣

Fame. (1910) ♣

A Rolling Stone. (1911)

The Serpent's Tooth. (1912) ♣

In Old Madras. (1913)

Lismoyle: An Experiment in Ireland. (1914) ♣

Quicksands. (1915) ♣

Given in Marriage. (1916) ♣

A Rash Experiment. (1917)

The Road to Mandalay: A Tale of Burma. (1917) ♣

Bridget. (1918)

Blue China. (1919) ♣

Jungle Tales. (1919)

Odds and Ends. (1919) ♣

The Pagoda Tree. (1919) ♣

The Chaperon. (1920)  ♣

The House of Rest. (1921)

The Scrap Books.

Apart from her novels there are also a series of scrap-books made and kept by her. These contain newspaper cuttings from around the world, with details of book reviews etc. We are aware of four of these scrap-books and there are probably more. Three are part of the B. M. Croker Archive (with 41 of her books) contained in Roscommon County Library (see our home page for link). Seamus Kelly notes the sale of another scrapbook (with a note about her) to a private collector, on page 9 of his book. Below and on the left are photographs from the scrap-book we donated to Roscommon Library on 3rd. November 2009 and a list of the works reviewed. If you have others, please contact us.

Above: "The Real Lady Hilda" (1899) by F. M. Buckles & Company. New York. "A Bird of Passage" (1925 edition) by Staple Inn Publishing Co. Ltd., London  & "Beyond The Pale" (no date) by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. This unusual edition has an embossed swastika on the cover. John Barr has a copy of this book dated 1920 and dedicated to a reader in England, so this seems to pin down a date and country. If anyone has any further information please contact us.

To view our B. M. Croker Wants List  (follow this link)

We believe that one of the most extensive collection of B. M. Croker's works, anywhere, is housed in the Local Studies Section of Roscommon County Library. The archive holds forty-one of her fifty titles (many in several editions and languages - in total more than 85 individual books). It also contains three unique newspaper scrap-books, some short-stories and other relevant material.

Roscommon Local Studies Collection would be delighted to have more items relating to this author. If you have anything please contact us.