The Children of the New Forest is the story of the Beverley children, Edward, Humphrey, Alice and Edith. Set during and after the English Civil War, it tells of their lives after their home was burned down by Parliamentarians. The children are taken to live in the New Forest by one of the foresters, an old servant called Jacob Armitage who poses as the children’s grandfather.
The story tells of the children growing to adulthood in Jacob’s cottage. They are joined by a gypsy boy, Pablo, who fell into Humphrey’s pitfall and was injured. Edward eventually works for the local intendant, Heatherstone, a Parliamentarian who was against the execution of King Charles and not unsympathetic to the Royalist cause. In the end, though, Edward goes abroad to join King Charles II.
In some ways the story is a little too idyllic, even though it is a story aimed at children. When Jacob or Edward goes hunting for deer, the hunt is always successful. Humphrey decides to catch a cow, and later some of the forest ponies. Again, this meets with success. He plants vegetables and other crops, and there is never any mention of crops failing or suffering from pests. And there is, of course, the obligatory happy ending.
There is little violence in the novel, and nothing to frighten a child. Although it was written for a young audience, I suspect that modern young readers would find The Children of the New Forest a bit tame.
