Julia Frances Jones BEM
Julia Jones in 2009
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Woodbridge, Suffolk, England
Occupation(s)Editor, publisher, writer
Years active1986–present
Spouse(s)Chris Thorogood (divorced)
Francis Wheen (m. 2019)
Websitegolden-duck.co.uk/julia-jones

Julia Jones, formerly also known as Julia Thorogood,[1] is an English writer, editor, book publisher and patient advocate.

Early life

Julia Jones was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk in 1954.[2] When she was three years old, her father George Jones bought the wooden sailing ketch Peter Duck, a yacht originally commissioned and owned by children's novelist Arthur Ransome and named for a character in one of his novels.[3] This nautical connection with Ransome, along with numerous pony books, helped to shape a lifelong enthusiasm for books.

Writer and publisher

Jones opened a bookshop in Ingatestone, Essex, which she then developed into a small-scale local publishing business, reissuing a Second World War autobiography by crime writer Margery Allingham.[2] Jones's interest in the Allingham family grew; she researched Margery Allingham's life and wrote a biography published in 1991. Jones has also studied the fiction writing of Margery Allingham's father, Herbert Allingham.[2]

In 2006, while working on a PhD on Herbert Allingham, Jones decided to become a writer of adventure stories like the Swallows and Amazons series of Arthur Ransome she had read as a child.[2][3] The Salt-Stained Book, the first part of a planned sailing adventure trilogy, was released in June 2011.[4] Jones hoped the trilogy would inspire a new generation of children to mess about in boats.[3]

Dementia-care advocacy

In November 2014, Jones and co-founder Nicci Gerrard set up an advocacy group, John's Campaign, to promote extended visiting rights for family carers of patients with dementia in hospitals in the United Kingdom.[5] Jones was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2023 King's Birthday honours "For Services to People with Dementia".[6]

Personal life

Jones has five children.[7] She was previously married to Chris Thorogood; in 2019 she married Francis Wheen, a writer, journalist and broadcaster who ŵas deputy editor of Private Eye.[8]

Bibliography

Books by Julia Jones:[9]

  • Uncommon Courage: The yachtsmen volunteers of World War Two ISBN 978-1472987105 1 January 2021 (shortlisted for the 2022 Maritime Foundation award for Best Book, formerly known as the Mountbatten Maritime Prize)
  • (edited/published) The Cruise of Naromis: August in the Baltic 1939 by G. A. Jones ISBN 978-1899262335 5 January 2017
  • Margery Allingham & Julia Jones Beloved Old Age and What To Do About It: Margery Allingham's 'The Relay' handed on to Julia Jones ISBN 978-1899262298, 30 June 2016
  • Fifty Years in the Fiction Factory: The working life of Herbert Allingham ISBN 978-1899262076 19 September 2012
  • Strong Winds series:
    • The Salt-Stained Book (Strong Winds vol. 1) ISBN 978-1899262045 16 June 2011
    • A Ravelled Flag (Strong Winds vol. 2) ISBN 978-1899262052 1 November 2011
    • Ghosting Home (Strong Winds vol. 3) ISBN 978-1899262069 2 July 2012
    • The Lion of Sole Bay (Strong Winds vol. 4) ISBN 978-1899262182 7 October 2013
    • Black Waters (Strong Winds vol. 5) ISBN 978-1899262267 2 July 2015
    • Pebble (Strong Winds vol. 6) ISBN 978-1899262397 15 November 2018
    • Voyage North (Strong Winds Vol. 7) ISBN 978-1899262540 15 October 2022
  • (edited/published) Cheapjack. Being the True History of a Young Man's Adventures as a Fortune Teller, Grafter, Knocker-Worker, and Mounted Pitcher on the Market-Places and Fair-grounds of a Modern But Still Romantic England by Philip Allingham, ISBN 978-1899262021 republished 1 July 2010
  • The Adventures of Margery Allingham ISBN 978-1899262014 2 March 2009
  • (writing as Julia Thorogood) Margery Allingham: A Biography, ISBN 978-0434779062 14 October 1991
  • (published) The Oaken Heart: The Story of an English Village at War, by Margery Allingham, ISBN 978-1899262038 re-issued 1988 and 3 March 2011
  • (edited/published, as Julia Thorogood) Yesterday's Heroes, by June Jones, 1 January 1986

References

  1. ↑ Julia Jones page on debbiesidea.com website, viewed 8 July 2011
  2. 1 2 3 4 biography page on Julia Jones' personal website, golden-duck.co.uk, viewed 8 July 2011
  3. 1 2 3 Setting sail on Arthur Ransome's boat on The Daily Telegraph website, viewed 13 October 2012
  4. ↑ The Salt-stained Book page on publisher's website, viewed 8 July 2011
  5. ↑ McVeigh, Tracy (13 March 2016). "Observer-backed John's Campaign wins support from NHS". The Observer. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "No. 64082". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2023. p. B32.
  7. ↑ Setting sail on Arthur Ransome's boat
  8. ↑ Nicholas Wroe "A life in writing", The Guardian, 29 August 2009
  9. ↑ Julia Jones page on Amazon.com, viewed 8 July 2011
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