Dozens of Cousins Trivia Quiz

Answer: 4

In order, the four Bettany and Russell Head Girls were Peggy Bettany, Bride Bettany, Josette Russell and Maeve Bettany. Peggy and Bride were Head Girls in the St Briavel's years, later moving on to St Mildred's, and Josette and Maeve were Head Girls in the Swiss years.

The only other families with sisters becoming Head Girls are the Lucys (Julie and Betsy in the Swiss years) and the Maranis (Gisela, the first Head Girl when the school was established in Tyrol, and Maria during the short period in Guernsey). Joey Bettany and Len Maynard are the only mother-and-daughter pair to be Head Girls.

Although Sybil Russell was a prefect, she was never chosen as Head Girl. As for the younger ones, Ailie Russell is in the Fifth Form at the time of 'Prefects of the Chalet School', the final book in the series, while Daphne Bettany is a Junior, and the series ended before either of them could have been promoted (though the idea of mischievous little Ailie being Head Girl is an entertaining one).

Answer: Dickie Christy

Dickie Christy (real name Delicia, after an ancestor) is the daughter of Commander Michael Christy, who owns the Big House that the Chalet School moves into on St Briavel's. She has a younger sister, Gaynor, and a younger stepsister, Cherry, who also join the Chalet School. Dickie herself is in Peggy's year and the two soon become close friends. Elfie Woodward, a future Games Prefect, is Bride's best friend and Julie Lucy and Tom Gay are also close friends of hers, along with Julie's cousin Nancy Chester.

Other members of the friendship group include Vanna and Nella Ozanne, who are also Julie's cousins; Anne Webster, who is good with younger girls; Bess Herbert, a rector's daughter; and Madge Watson, a talented musician.

Answer: Making them spend the weekend acting like Regency girls

Annoyed with being pulled up for slang, the Middles decide to read lots of Georgette Heyer books and speak Regency English. Peggy responds to this by declaring that the girls will spend the weekend being treated like Regency girls. They are only allowed to take sedate walks with their umbrellas, are expected to learn the sermon at Prayers, and cannot have jam with their bread and butter as it would be greedy.

Their only entertainment is sewing while a prefect reads to them. Even the prefects find this a bit much by the end of it.

As well as being the first next generation Head Girl, Peggy is also the first to attend the new finishing school in the Bernese Oberland, St Mildred's, though she has to fly back to the UK when Mollie becomes ill with Graves' disease.

After she leaves school, she returns home to help Mollie with her new baby sister Daphne.

Answer: Margaret Roper

Bride is the plainest and most academic of the Bettany girls, and the only one who wears glasses. She is named for her mum Mollie's sister Bridget and is originally called 'Biddy'. She comes up with the idea of 'The Crown of Success' (an old and rather obscure moralistic children's story about learning) as a Sale theme, and plays the title role in the 'Margaret Roper Cantata'. (Margaret Roper was a translator and scholar, the oldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, and Elinor M Brent-Dyer named her short-lived school after her.) Bride initially wants to be a librarian, but then decides that she wants to train as a teacher and come back to teach at one of the Chalet School branches.

Answer: Sporty and mischievous

Maeve is the least academic of the Bettany girls, and a bit of a tomboy. She is good at sports and enjoys riding, lacrosse and cricket, playing in the inter-form lacrosse friendly in 'Ruey Richardson: Chaletian'. She was born in India and does not come to the UK until she is ten, and there is some friction between her and her older sisters as she resents being bossed around by Peggy.

She freely admits to her friends in 'The Chalet School Triplets' that she is the 'family dud' and is not expected to do well in exams, though she is good at languages, and only does the bare minimum of work to keep herself out of trouble.

She originally wants to do physical training at college, but later hopes to join a touring agency and work as a courier upon leaving school.

As Head Girl, she has the feud with St Hilda's to deal with.

Answer: Spill boiling water on her

Sybil is resentful at having to share Madge with the Bettany children, Robin Humphries and the Venables sisters, and often clashes with her cousin Rix. She is also very pretty and is often complimented by visitors, which leads her to become arrogant over her looks.

She is also unfriendly towards the McDonald twins when they are living with Joey. In 'Gay from China', she accidentally spills boiling water on Josette when Josette runs into Sybil while Sybil is holding a kettle. Josette is badly burned and Jem is so angry with Sybil that he refuses to speak to her, and Matron eventually has to tell him to forgive her because she is upset and making herself ill.

In 'Jo to the Rescue', she goes on holiday to Yorkshire with Joey, the other members of the Quartette and their children.

When she is older, Sybil hates being complimented on her looks. Although she is not academic, she is artistically talented and hopes to study embroidery, specialising in church embroidery, and sews items for the Sale.

Answer: Shakespeare plays

Josette, named for her aunt Joey, comes up with the idea of a Shakespeare Sale and plays the role of Oberon, the Fairy King from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Of the Russell girls, she is the only one who resembles Madge (Sybil has red hair and Ailie is blonde), though she is much taller.

She is also the most academic. She and Ailie travel out to Canada with Jem and Madge when Jem attends a major conference on tuberculosis, and she goes to the same convent as the Maynard triplets, where she becomes fluent in French.

When Josette is older, she is due to go to St Mildred's and then plans to either study radiology or go to the London School of Economics, but has to change her plans when Madge and Jem move to Australia, as Jem is attending a medical conference there and Madge wants Josette and Sybil to keep her company.

Answer: Putting people's things into Lost Property

Ailie, real name Aline, was born in 'Jo to the Rescue' and, to Madge's disappointment, is a mixture of 'young demon and tomboy'. She becomes friends with Janice Chester and Judy Willoughby, and the trio gain a reputation for mischief. In 'Trials for the Chalet School', the girls pick up items belonging to various people and put them in the Lost Property cupboard, whether they are lost or not, much to the annoyance of the owners of the property. Naomi Elton proposes making the perpetrators return every single item to its owner and apologise, and Head Girl Mary-Lou Trelawney issues the punishment in front of both Sixth Forms after ordering the culprits to own up. Ailie, Judy and Janice later befriend Adrienne Desmoines at Robin Humphries' request in 'Adrienne and the Chalet School'.

She is the only Russell girl who does not go to Australia, as her parents do not want to interrupt her education.

Answer: Peggy Bettany

Peggy marries Giles Winterton, brother of Polly and Lala, in 'Ruey Richardson: Chaletian'. The Richardsons are invited to the wedding along with the Bettany and Russell families; the triplets, the Russell girls, Bride, Maeve and the Winterton sisters are all bridesmaids, and they wear gold. Peggy's old friends from St Mildred's club together to buy her a present, and she sends a tier of her wedding cake to the school. In the same book, Bride gets engaged to a young barrister, Simon Carrington, whose sister is a friend from university, although they want to wait a few years before getting married. She wants Peggy to be her matron of honour. Peggy moves abroad due to Giles' job, living in Canada and then the West Indies. She and Giles have a son, Alan, and she is pregnant again in 'Adrienne and the Chalet School'.

As for the Russells, Sybil marries an Australian sailor in 'Adrienne' and Ailie flies out to Australia to join her family, although the Maynards are unable to attend as the triplets have exams and Joey has to look after Phil, who has fallen ill. In 'Redheads at the Chalet School', Josette - like Bride - also gets engaged to a young lawyer whose sister is a university friend, and is married to him by 'The Prefects of the Chalet School'.

Answer: 3

Twins are fairly common in the 'Chalet School' books: there's the Ozannes, the Dawbarns, the McDonalds (aka the 'Highland Twins'), to name but a few. Dick and Mollie's first children are Peggy and Rix, and while they are living in India and their four older children are staying with the Russells, Mollie gives birth to a second pair, Maurice and Maeve. Madge, meanwhile, gives birth to Kevin and Kester while the Russells, bar David and Sybil, are in Canada. Joey, of course, outdoes both her siblings by giving birth to triplet daughters and two pairs of twins (Felix and Felicity while the Maynards are in Canada, and Geoff and Philippa when they have moved to Switzerland, with Cecil in between).