S.G. Hulme Beaman

Sydney George Hulme Beaman (28 February 1887[1] – 4 February 1932), better known as S.G. Hulme Beaman, was a British author, actor and illustrator. He was best known as the creator of the Toytown stories and their characters, including Larry the Lamb.[2][3] He also illustrated the 1930s John Lane edition of a Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.[4]

Early life

Beaman was born in Tottenham, London, on 28 February 1887,[1] the eldest of three children. As a child he was particularly interested in mechanical objects. According to his lifelong friend Hendrik Baker, his attention to detail in his work came from his father.[1]

Artistic career

Beaman attended the Heatherley School of Fine Art, and during that period founded the theatre group known as the Dickens Fellowship, which led to him being invited to perform at smoking concerts.[1] He met his wife, Maud Mary Poltock, during these performances. After his stint there he turned to making wooden toys, taking advantage of the fact that Germany was no longer the dominant force in the industry. He began to weave stories around them, which led to the birth of Toytown in 1928.[1]

May Jenkin, or "Aunt Elizabeth", arranged for his Toytown stories to be adapted into radio plays for Children's Hour, and when they became successful she wrote to Hulme Beaman demanding more.[5] Beaman used to work out his ideas for the show in a miniature theatre at his home, using his original models.[2]

Prior to his creating the Toytown series, Hulme Beaman was already well known for having created the strip cartoon Philip and Phido in 1923.[6] This was about a boy and his dog, and featured early versions of characters later to be in Toytown.[1]

He was often in the studio while his work was being broadcast, and occasionally took part in the programme. This continued until the last Tuesday before his death.[2] Later in his career he was inspired by the early Walt Disney cartoons to create marionette and animated renditions of his Toytown play The Arkville Dragon. He died on 4 February 1932 of pneumonia:[2] however, his plays were remounted for radio until 1964, and his friend Hendrik Baker would adapt his original plays for stage, vinyl and television over the next six decades.

Bibliography

As author and illustrator

Year Title Publisher Reprints Ref.
1922 Bunny's New House and The Fire Engine Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. (in The Youngest Omnibus) 1934, 1946, 1952 [7]
1924 Aladdin John Lane, The Bodley Head N/A [1][8]
1925 The Road to Toytown Oxford University Press 1938 (in Stories from Toytown), 1979 (in The Book of Toytown and Larry the Lamb), 1985 (in Toytown and Larry the Lamb) [1]
Trouble in Toyland N/A [9]
Jerry and Joe
The Wooden Knight
1926 The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor John Lane, The Bodley Head N/A [1][8]
1927 Teddy's New Job Frederick Warne & Co. 1928 (in Out of the Ark), 1930, 1934 (both in The Toytown Book) [1][10]
Wally the Kangaroo
Grunty the Pig
Jimmy the Baby Elephant
Ham and the Egg
Jenny the Giraffe
Pig-Pig and the Three Bears Oxford University Press N/A
1928 Tales of Toytown 1930 (as Ernest the Policeman), 1939, 1946 [1][10]
1929 John Trusty Collins 1938, 1951 [9]
1930 Wireless in Toytown 1939 [10]
The Toytown Mystery
1938 Stories from Toytown Oxford University Press (published posthumously) 1942, 1985 (as Toytown and Larry the Lamb)

As illustrator

Year Title Author Ref.
1926 These Old Shades Georgette Heyer [11]
1930 Three Daughters Olive Heseltine (as Jane Dashwood)
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson (originally published 1886) [10]
1931 The Smith Family H. C. Cradock

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Baker, Hendrik. The Book of Toytown and Larry the Lamb.
  2. ^ a b c d "Mr S. G. Hulme Beaman". The Guardian. 5 February 1932. p. 10. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  3. ^ General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 3a; Page: 584. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 [database on-line].
  4. ^ "Royal Academy of Arts – S.G. Hulme Beaman".
  5. ^ Comprehensive article about Toytown at ukonline
  6. ^ Profile at the Montacute TV Radio Toy Museum
  7. ^ Vallance, Rosalind (1922). The Youngest Omnibus. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
  8. ^ a b Peppin, Bridget; Micklethwait, Lucy (1993). "Gordon Frederick Browne (1858-1932)". Dictionary of British book illustrators : the twentieth century. London: Murray. pp. 59. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b Cooper, John (1998). Children's Fiction 1900-1950. London: Routledge.
  10. ^ a b c d Twentieth-century Children's Writers. Macmillan Education UK. 1978. ISBN 9781349036486.
  11. ^ Chris Mullen (27 May 2012). "S.G. Hulme Beaman". The Visual Telling of Stories. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
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