Who was the real James Herriot? The true story behind All Creatures Great and Small

Where was James Herriot born?

Wight was born on 3 October 1916 at his mother Hannah Wight’s family home in Sunderland in the north of England. Having visited Sunderland to give birth, Hannah returned to Glasgow when Wight was just three weeks old, which is where he spent his early years – and explains the lilting Scottish accent that many associate with his literary alter-ego, James Herriot.

An only child, Wight attended Yoker Primary School and Hillhead High School, before taking a place at veterinary college at the age of 17.

James Herriot’s career as a vet

Since he was a young boy, Wight had always loved animals and spent much of his time walking with his dog, an Irish Setter. His interest blossomed into a desire to be a vet – so that he could care for all kinds of creatures – when he read an article in Meccano Magazine about veterinary surgeons. Two years later, when a vet visited his school to give a lecture, his mind was made up; that was what he wanted to do with his life.

Wight joined Glasgow Veterinary College and graduated just over six years later, in 1939 at the age of 23. It should have taken him five years, but he suffered from gastrointestinal problems and had to miss lectures, causing him to fail many of his modules on the first attempt.

Still, Wight’s progress at the college was impressively swift when compared to some of his contemporaries. There were students who took 14 years to finish the five-year course; for many, training as a vet meant little work and lots of play.

Following graduation, Wight’s professional career got underway – in Sunderland and not Thirsk, as is often assumed due to the setting of the James Herriot books. His mother’s family were still based in Sunderland, so he happily made use of the free accommodation.

Though, it wasn’t long before he felt the pull of a rural life and headed to the Yorkshire countryside, where he joined Donald Sinclair’s veterinary practice at 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk. This would become the famous Skeldale House in the books and television adaptations, with Sinclair immortalised as the eccentric Siegfried Farnon.

Who did James Herriot marry in real life?

In his books, Wight’s alas James Herriot marries a farmer’s daughter named Helen Alderson, but her real-life counterpart was a secretary, Joan Danbury.

Wight and Danbury married on 5 November 1941 at St Mary’s Church in Thirsk. Sadly, his parents didn’t approve of the match as they hoped he would marry someone of higher status. Their absence from the wedding haunted Wight throughout his life.

• Read more | The history of York: a northern powerhouse of many names

Unable to afford any time away from work, the newlyweds could not enjoy a traditional honeymoon, but instead spent it in the village of Carnaby. Wight tested cattle for tuberculosis while his wife took notes.

The couple then settled into married life in the attic of 23 Kirkgate. “It would have been spartan,” their daughter, Rosie, told PBS America. “They had hardly any furniture. When we lived in that house, as we did until I was six, that bit at the top was never seen as anything but the attic. We kept a pig down the garden [and] they used to hang the hams on hooks up in that same attic!”

How many children did James Herriot have?

Wight and his wife Joan had two children: James (better known as Jim) and Rosemary (Rosie). Jim would replace his father as a partner in the veterinary practice upon Wight’s death, while Rosie became a GP.

As a child, however, she had wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. “He encouraged Jim, but not me,” she told PBS America. “I think predominantly because in those days vets were mostly men, particularly country vets. And I don’t think dad wanted his little girl lying in cow byres in the middle of the night, flat on her face. He kept saying, ‘No, you’d rather be a doctor, wouldn’t you?’

“And I have to say, I don’t regret it. I was happy being a doctor. I don’t think either of us thought of anything else to do apart from doctors and vets.”

What did James Herriot do in the war?

Although his profession exempted him from military service, Wight joined the Royal Air Force in November 1942 and trained to be a pilot. Proving his skills in the air, as well as on the farms of Yorkshire, he was one of the first in his unit to fly solo and would achieve the rank of leading aircraftman.

Yet Wight wasn’t an exemplary RAF pilot, and did break the rules. On two occasions, he went absent without leave (AWOL), the first time while Joan was pregnant with Jim and the second when she was due to give birth. Luckily, he was never caught.

H2: How long did James Herriot go to war for?

Wight’s RAF career was cut short by health issues, specifically surgery for an anal fistula that left him unfit for combat missions.

The condition had plagued him since his days at veterinary college. After just a year of service, he was discharged in November 1943.

Are the characters in All Creatures Great and Small based on real people?

Many of the beloved characters in Wight's stories were inspired by real people in his life, although he used pseudonyms to protect their identities.

Herriot’s wife Helen Alderson was based on Joan Danbury. And while it is true that she was engaged to another man before marrying Wight, the real Joan ended this relationship before walking to the altar – unlike Helen in the television series.

Siegfried Farnon – who owns the Skeldale House veterinary practice – and his brother Tristan are the fictional counterparts of the Sinclair brothers, Donald and Brian. The real brothers shared a complex relationship, with Donald often exasperated by his younger brother’s laid-back approach to life: Brian took a decade to complete his course at the Royal Veterinary College in Edinburgh, and at Donald’s expense.

A character who plays a prominent role in the most recent All Creatures Great and Small series is Mrs Hall, the housekeeper who keeps Skeldale House running. She represents various women who assisted Wight and the Sinclairs with domestic tasks at the practice.

Then there is Mrs Pumphrey and her Pekingese, Tricki Woo, who were inspired by socialite Marjorie Warner and her dog Bambi.

Like in the stories, she did indeed send luxury hampers to the practice as tokens of thanks.

What was James Herriot’s relationship like with Siegfried and Tristan Farnon in real life?

Much like in the books and television adaptations, Wight had close relationships with both Donald (the real-life Siegfried) and Brian (Tristan). The brothers were affectionately known as ‘uncle’ to his children, and when Brian left Thirsk to work at the Ministry of Agriculture in Leeds, Wight and his wife Joan visited him regularly.

However, while Brian was said to have been fond of his portrayal in Wight’s books, Donald disliked his fictional counterpart, believing himself to be dissimilar to the inconsistent and sometimes explosive Siegfried. He even told Wight that his debut novel was “a test of our friendship”.

That said, Donald was always eager to welcome avid fans of Wight's work on a tour around the surgery at 23 Kirkgate whenever they showed up, according to Wight’s son Jim.

When did James Herriot start writing?

It was only in his fifties that Wight began writing seriously, thanks to encouragement from Joan.

It might be a surprise that his earlier works were not about his career as a vet, but about sport. He hoped that his love of football might make the writing process easier; in fact, his famous pen name of James Herriot was inspired by a Scottish goalkeeper.

Wight’s first book If Only They Could Talk, took 18 months to write, and would be turned down by all the publishers he sent it to.

A key moment came when he received a piece of advice from a reader at a publishing firm to write his anecdotal stories in first person rather than third, leading Wight to revise his manuscript.

• Read more | Pet cemeteries: where have beloved animals been laid to rest through the centuries?

He then found a publisher and If Only They Could Talk was released, first as a serial in the London Evening Standard before full publication in April 1970. A total of 3,000 copies were distributed around the UK.

This was followed by It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet in 1972, the same year that both books were compiled and published under the title All Creatures Great and Small in the US. These proved a great success, quickly outstripping the initial run of 3,000.

According to Macmillan Publishers, more than 80 million copies of Wight’s books have since been sold worldwide – and they have never been out of print.

How did James Herriot feel about his fame?

Wight was astonished by his success, telling the Daily Mail in 1981: “I was dumbfounded by the reaction to that first book, absolutely dumbfounded. The most I had hoped for was that someone would publish it and a few people quite enjoy reading it.”

Despite his growing notoriety, he changed little in his life and rarely spoke about his literary achievements, according to his family.

The financial success of his books meant he no longer had to work, yet he continued to practise veterinary medicine in some capacity for pretty much the rest of his life.

Wight insisted that the farmers in the Dales didn’t treat him any differently either, once famously exclaiming: “If a farmer calls me with a sick animal, he couldn’t care less if I were George Bernard Shaw.”

Of course, another star of the books was 23 Kirkgate, which became something of a tourist hotspot for fans. By the late 1970s, with James Herriot a household name, hordes of people would queue outside the practice to have books signed by Wight. He agreed in return for donations to a dog sanctuary, later claiming that this brought in around £100 each time.

Today, 23 Kirkgate houses the popular museum, The World of James Herriot.

James Herriot’s struggles with mental illness

Wight struggled with depression for much of his life, beginning during his time at Glasgow Veterinary College. He once wrote in his diary: “I have been getting intermittent fits of the blues of late, but I don’t know what’s up.”

His mental health issues carried on into later life. Jim said in a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail that his father would describe his depressive episodes as a feeling of “overwhelming melancholy”.

Wight had a nervous breakdown in 1960, which plagued him for two years. He even resorted to electroconvulsive therapy.

How did James Herriot die?

Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, Wight died at his home on 23 February 1995, aged 78. He left behind an estate valued at more than £5 million and his share of the practice passed to Jim, according to his will.

The name James Herriot has lived on, as new generations of fans come to Wight’s books and watch the highly popular Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small.