Background

Roger Windle Pilkington was born on January 17, 1915, in St. Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. He was the son of Richard Austin and Hope Pilkington.

Education

In 1942 Roger Windle Pilkington received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Career

After earning a doctorate, Roger Wilde Pilkington then worked as a geneticist for eight years at Cambridge University. After World War II he worked for two years as director of studies at the Pendley Adult Education Center before becoming a freelance writer.

Several of his early works are science books - sometimes tied in with religion - for the general reader and include Males and Females (1948), Biology, Man, and God (1951), Revelation through Science (1954), and Robert Boyle, Father of Chemistry (1959). He soon turned his love of boating into the popular "Small Boat" series, which included well over a dozen books. In such books as Small Boat in the Midi (1983) and Small Boat down the Years (1987) Pilkington relates his experiences traveling the world on his boat.

His children’s and grandchildren’s love of boating inspired him to write children’s stories in which the characters are involved in various mysteries and other adventures while they travel by boat. These include Jan’s Treasure (1955), The Ways of the Sea (1957), The Eisenbart Mystery (1963), and The Boy from Stink Alley (1965; published in the United States as I Sailed on the Mayflower). Some of Pilkington’s more recent books include One Foot in France (1992), View from the Shore (1995), and History and Legends of the European Waterways (1998).

Achievements

• Roger Wilde Pilkington is best remembered for his books about boating, including the nonfiction Small Boat series and his mystery stories for children that are often set on boats. His works received high praise from critics.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Males and Females 1948
  • Biology, Man and God 1951
  • Revelation Through Science 1954
  • Robert Boyle, Father of Chemistry 1959
  • How Ships are Navigated 1962
  • Thames Waters 1956
  • Small Boat through Belgium 1957
  • Small Boat Through Holland 1958
  • Small Boat to the Skagerrak 1960
  • Small Boat Through Sweden 1961
  • Small Boat to Alsace 1961
  • Small Boat to Bavaria 1962
  • Small Boat to through Germany 1963
  • Small Boat Through France 1964
  • Small Boat in Southern France 1965
  • Small Boat on the Thames 1966
  • Small Boat on the Meuse 1967
  • Small Boat on the Moselle 1968
  • Small Boat to Elsinore 1969
  • Small Boat on the Lower Rhine 1970
  • Small Boat on the Upper Rhine 1971
  • Small Boat Down the Years 1987
  • Small Boat in the Midi 1989
  • One Foot in France 1992
  • View from the Shore 1995
  • History & Legends of the European Waterways 1998

Interests

• boating

Connections

On July 28, 1937, Roger Wilde Pilkington married Miriam Jaboor. They had two children: Cynthia, Hugh. Later, the couple divorced. In 1973 he married Ingrid Geijer. In 2002 she died.

Father:

Richard Austin Pilkington

Mother:

Hope Pilkington

Son:

Hugh Pilkington

Daughter:

Cynthia Pilkington

late spouse:

Ingrid Geijer

ex-spouse:

Miriam Jaboor

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2011