Katharine Mary Briggs (November 8, 1898 – 1980) is the author of The Anatomy of Puck, the definitive 4-volume Dictionary of British Folk-Tales, and various other books on fairies and folklore. 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

She was born in Hampstead London, the eldest of three surviving daughters of Ernest Edward Briggs, who came from Yorkshire (his family had had great success in coal mining in Halifax and Wakefield) and Mary Cooper. The other two sisters were named Winifred and Elspeth. Ernest was a watercolour artist with a specific interest in Scottish scenery who often told his children stories, possibly sparking Katharine's life-long interest in them. The family moved to Perthshire in 1911, where Ernest built a house, Dalbeathie House. Ernest died there two years later in 1913. Katharine began attending Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford from 1918, obtained a BA in 1922, and took her MA in 1926. Hampstead is a place in the London Borough of Camden and is close to Hampstead Heath. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use as fuel. ... , This article is about the English town. ... Wakefield is a city in Yorkshire, south of Leeds, and by the River Calder. ... Perthshire (Siorrachd Pheairt in Gaelic) is a traditional county in central Scotland, which extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south. ... College name Lady Margaret Hall Named after Lady Margaret Beaufort Established 1878 Sister College Newnham College Principal Dr Frances Lannon JCR President Joe Collenette Undergraduates 424 MCR or GCR President {{{MCR President}}} Graduates 148 Homepage Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B., from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... The degree of Master of Arts degree is an undergraduate degree awarded by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as by the University of Dublin. ...

Returning home (because of the family coal legacy, and a colliery in Normantown, she did not need to seek work), she began writing and running plays - the entire family enjoyed theatrical productions, and was a life-long interest of Katharine's - while she studied folklore and 17th century English history and gained her PhD with a thesis on Folklore in seventeenth century literature (Folklore in Jacobean Literature) after the Second World War; she was busy during the war teaching in a Polish refuge school and working for the medical branch of the WAAF. After her first book on British Fairies, The Personnel of Fairyland, Briggs went on to write many other books on folklore, including the 4-volume A Dictionary of British Folktales in the English Language (published in 1971), The Anatomy of Puck and its sequel, Pale Hecate's Team (1962), An Encyclopedia of Fairies (197), and various other books on fairies and folklore; a number were children's books like The Legend of Maiden-Hair (her first published book) or Hobberdy Dick, and Kate Crackernuts. She was awarded the Doctorate in Literature in 1969. She lived the latter part of her life at the Barn House in Burford and died in 1980. Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use as fuel. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ... The U.S. Womens Auxiliary Air Force was created in June of 1939. ... // Basic characteristics There is some debate as to what constitutes childrens literature. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Map sources for Burford at grid reference SP2512 Looking north through Burford Priory of Our Lady Picturesque Burford Burford ( or in the IPA) is a Cotswold town in Oxfordshire, England. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

External links

• Archives hub page
• Entry at the University of Southern Mississippi de Grummond Collection
• Genealogical entries and biographical sketches of Ernest Edward Briggs and Katharine
• Biographical sketch from the University of Leeds -(pdf)
• Katharine Briggs Award Commemorates Briggs as scholar and former Folklore Society President