For much of the 20th century, barely a British home was without her chubby-cheeked, wide-eyed toddlers — on postcards, nursery china, biscuit tins and the pages of countless children’s books. The much-loved illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell lived in Eastbourne in the 1930s, and holds the distinction of being the only woman with a blue plaque in the town. Here’s her story.
The Attwell child
Mabel Lucie Attwell was born in London’s East End in 1879, one of a large family and the daughter of a butcher. She trained at art schools including St Martin’s, but soon struck out on her own, preferring to draw from imagination rather than still life. She developed a style that would make her one of the most recognisable illustrators in Britain: round-faced, rosy-cheeked toddlers with enormous eyes, button noses and tufts of wispy hair — idealised, sentimental children who seemed to step straight out of every parent’s fondest memory. Her own daughter, Peggy, was the inspiration for the archetypal “Attwell child”.
A household name
Attwell’s charming children appeared everywhere. She illustrated classic children’s books — Mother Goose, Alice in Wonderland, The Water-Babies, and a famous 1921 edition of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy, made at the author’s own request. From 1922 her hugely popular Lucie Attwell Annual appeared each Christmas for more than half a century. Her designs adorned postcards, greeting cards, biscuit tins, wall plaques and nursery china — including the beloved “Boo-Boos”, the little green elves she created for Shelley pottery. She even received royal patronage, designing a Christmas card for the young Princess Margaret.
Did you know? Attwell’s cheerful toddlers were so beloved that images of them were reportedly carried by young British soldiers in the trenches of the First World War — a small piece of home amid the horror.
Her Eastbourne years
Attwell married the fellow illustrator Harold Earnshaw in 1908 — which is why Eastbourne’s records list her under her married name, Mrs H. Earnshaw. In the mid-1930s she was living in the town at Ocklynge Manor, on the northern side of Eastbourne. They were difficult years for her personally: her husband, who had been badly wounded in the First World War, was in declining health, and the family suffered painful losses in this period. Yet through it all she kept working, her drawings as popular as ever, bringing comfort and cheer to families across the country even as she weathered her own sorrows. In later life she moved to Fowey in Cornwall, where she spent her final decades and died in 1964.
The town’s only female blue plaque
Mabel Lucie Attwell holds a special place among Eastbourne’s commemorated figures: she is the only woman to have been honoured with a blue plaque in the town. It’s a fitting recognition of a remarkable and determined professional woman who built one of the most successful commercial art careers of her age at a time when few women were encouraged to do so — and whose gentle, joyful images defined British childhood for generations.
Her work remains instantly recognisable and widely collected today, from vintage postcards to nursery china. For a town proud of its artistic heritage — also home to the painter Eric Ravilious — Attwell is a warm and welcome name to have on the roll.
Mabel Lucie Attwell: FAQs
Did Mabel Lucie Attwell live in Eastbourne?
Yes — she lived at Ocklynge Manor in Eastbourne in the mid-1930s, listed under her married name, Mrs H. Earnshaw. She is commemorated with a blue plaque in the town.
What is Mabel Lucie Attwell famous for?
For her hugely popular illustrations of chubby, wide-eyed young children, which appeared on postcards, greeting cards, nursery china and in children’s books — including a celebrated edition of Peter Pan and Wendy — and in the long-running Lucie Attwell Annual.
Is Mabel Lucie Attwell the only woman with an Eastbourne blue plaque?
Yes — she holds the distinction of being the only woman commemorated with a blue plaque in Eastbourne, a recognition of her extraordinary success as an illustrator.
When did Mabel Lucie Attwell die?
She died in 1964 at her home in Fowey, Cornwall, where she had lived for the last two decades of her life. Her business was continued by her daughter, Peggy.
Meet more of Eastbourne’s famous names: war artist Eric Ravilious, comedian Tommy Cooper, and explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.