Tom Merry

Tom Merry is the principal character in the "St Jim's" stories which appeared in the boy's weekly paper, The Gem, from 1907 to 1939.

The stories were all written using the pen-name of Martin Clifford, the majority by Charles Hamilton who was more widely known as Frank Richards, the creator of Billy Bunter.

The first Tom Merry story appeared in Gem number 3 dated 10 March 1907 and introduced him as a new boy at a school called Clavering College.

As the years passed her influence disappeared and Merry became the acknowledged leader of the lower school of St Jim's and the focal point of most of the stories.

After a lull, interest in Charles Hamilton's writing increased during the 1950s and further St Jim's stories were published by Spring Books from about 1949 and by Mandeville from the 1950s.