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James Herriot
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"James Heriot" redirects here. For the American soldier, see James D. Heriot.
James Herriot
Alf wight.jpg
Born James Alfred Wight
3 October 1916
Sunderland, County Durham, England
Died 23 February 1995 (aged 78)
Thirlby, North Yorkshire, England
Pen name James Herriot
Occupation Veterinary surgeon, author
Language English
Nationality British
Education RCVS
Alma mater Glasgow Veterinary College
Period 1940–1992
Subject Autobiographical, memoirs
James Alfred Wight OBE FRCVS (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author.

Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to England to become a veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire, where he practised for almost 50 years. He is best known for writing a series of eight books set in the 1930s–1950s Yorkshire Dales about veterinary practice, animals, and their owners, which began with If Only They Could Talk, first published in 1970. Over the decades, the series of books sold some 60 million copies.[1]

The franchise based on his writings was very successful. In addition to the books, there have been several television and film adaptations of Wight's books, including the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small, a BBC television series of the same name, which ran 90 episodes, and a 2020 UK Channel 5 series, also of the same name.[2]

Contents
1 Life
1.1 Veterinary practice
1.2 Death
1.3 Remembering Alf Wight
2 Career as an author
2.1 Achieving success
3 Film and television adaptations
4 Recognition and tourist industry
5 Published works
5.1 The original UK series
5.2 Collected works from the original UK series
5.3 Books for children
5.4 Other books
6 Further reading
7 References
8 External links
Life
James Wight was born on 3 October 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England.[3] Although Wight was born in England, the family moved to Glasgow when James was a child and he lived there happily until leaving for Sunderland, and then to Thirsk in 1940. He had a "soft, lilting Scottish accent," according to actor Christopher Timothy, who portrayed James Herriot in the 1978 series.[4]

Wight attended Yoker Primary School and Hillhead High School.[5] When he was a boy in Glasgow, one of Wight's favourite pastimes was walking with his dog, an Irish Setter, in the Scottish countryside and watching it play with his friends' dogs. He later wrote that "I was intrigued by the character and behaviour of these animals... [I wanted to] spend my life working with them if possible." At age 12, he read an article in Meccano Magazine about veterinary surgeons, and was captivated with the idea of a career treating sick animals. Two years later, in 1930, he decided to become a vet after the principal of Glasgow Veterinary College gave a lecture at his high school.[6]

Herriot's former surgery
The veterinary surgery (office) of Alf Wight (James Herriot) and his partners, Donald and Brian Sinclair at 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk, now a museum)

Original name plates for Donald Sinclair (Siegfried Farnon) and Alf Wight (James Herriot) at the World of James Herriot museum

Sign at 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk (2018)
Wight married Joan Catherine Anderson Danbury on 5 November 1941 at St Mary's Church, Thirsk.[7]

After they returned to Thirsk, Wight "carried on TB testing cows in Wensleydale and the top floor of 23 Kirkgate became Joan and Alf’s first home".[5] The couple had two children: James Alexander (born 13 February 1943), who also became a veterinarian and eventually his father's successor in the practice, and Rosemary (born 9 May 1947), who became a general practitioner.[8]: 148, 169, 292 

Veterinary practice
Wight took six years to complete the five-year programme at Glasgow Veterinary College because of health issues. According to The New York Times, there was another reason: he "failed many of his classes on the first try: surgery, pathology, physiology, histology, even animal husbandry (which he failed twice)".[1] He graduated on 14 December 1939.[5]

The new vet's first position, which he accepted in January 1940, was at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, working for J. J. McDowall.[5] He decided that he would prefer a rural practice and accepted a position in July, based at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk, Yorkshire, near the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. The practice owner, Donald Sinclair, had enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was soon to leave for training; he gave Wight all the practice's income in return for looking after it during his absence.[9] (His brother, Brian Sinclair, was not yet a vet.) After Sinclair was discharged from the RAF four months later, he asked Wight to stay permanently with the practice, offering a salaried partnership which Wight accepted.[10]

Wight enlisted in the RAF in November 1942. He did well in his training, and was one of the first in his flight to fly solo. After undergoing surgery on an anal fistula in July 1943, he was deemed unfit to fly combat aircraft and was discharged as a leading aircraftman the following November. He joined his wife at her parents' house, where she had lived since he left Thirsk. They lived there until the summer of 1945, when they moved back to 23 Kirkgate after Sinclair and his wife moved to a house of their own. In 1953, the family moved to a house on Topcliffe Road, Thirsk. Wishing for more privacy as the popularity of All Creatures Great and Small increased, in 1977 Wight and his wife moved again, to the smaller village of Thirlby, about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Thirsk. Wight lived here until his death in 1995.[8]

Wight became a full partner in the Thirsk practice in 1949 and retired from full-time practice in 1980 but continued to work part-time.[5] He fully retired in 1989 (or 1990 according to some sources); by then, he had worked in this field for roughly 50 years.[1][5]

Death
In Wight's will, his share of the practice passed to his son. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991 and was treated in the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.[8]: 345, 352  He died on 23 February 1995 at home in Thirlby at age 78,[11] leaving an estate valued for probate at £5,425,873 (equivalent to £10,663,662 in 2020).[12][13] His remains were cremated and scattered on Sutton Bank.[5] His wife's health declined after his death, and she died on 14 July 1999.[14]

Remembering Alf Wight
In 2001, a book by Wight's son, Jim, was published. A review of The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father noted that "Wight portrays his father as a modest, down-to-earth and generous man, utterly unchanged by fame, a private individual who bottled up his emotions, which led to a nervous breakdown and electroshock therapy in 1960".[15]

Wight's obituary confirmed his modesty and preference to stay away from the public eye. "It doesn't give me any kick at all", he once said. "It's not my world. I wouldn't be happy there. I wouldn't give up being a vet if I had a million pounds. I'm too fond of animals."[16] By 1995, some 50 million of the James Herriot books had been sold. Wight was well aware that clients were unimpressed with the fame that accompanied a best-selling author. "If a farmer calls me with a sick animal, he couldn't care less if I were George Bernard Shaw," Wight once said.[17]

Career as an author
Although Wight claimed in the preface of James Herriot's Yorkshire that he had begun to write only after his wife encouraged him at age 50, he in fact kept copious diaries as a child, as a teenager wrote for his school's magazine, and wrote at least one short story during his college years.[18]: 97, 163  In the early 1960s he began analysing the books of successful authors that he enjoyed reading, such as P. G. Wodehouse and Conan Doyle, to understand different writing styles.[18]: 244  During this time he also began writing more seriously, composing numerous short stories and, in his own words, 'bombarding' publishers with them.[18]: 233, 238 

Based on the year when he started work in Thirsk, the stories in the first two books would have taken place early during the Second World War. Wight preferred to have them take place in a quieter era so he set them in pre-war years.[1]

The author required a pseudonym because the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' regulations prevented vets from any type of advertising. A reliable source states that he "chose the name after attending a football match in which the Scotland internationalist Jim Herriot played in goal for Birmingham City".[19]

Wight's early efforts at having his writing published were unsuccessful, which he later explained by telling Paul Vallely in a 1981 interview for the Sunday Telegraph Magazine that "my style was improving but [...] my subjects were wrong."[18]: 238–239  Choosing a subject where he was more experienced, in 1969 he wrote If Only They Could Talk, a collection of stories centred around his experiences as a young veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales. The book was published in the United Kingdom in 1970 by Michael Joseph Ltd. Wight followed it up with It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet in 1972. Sales were slow until Thomas McCormack of St. Martin's Press in New York City received a copy and arranged to have both books published as a single volume in the United States that same year. Wight named this volume All Creatures Great and Small from the second line of the hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful".[8]: 271  The resulting book was a huge success.

Achieving success
Wight wrote seven more books in the series started by If Only They Could Talk. In the United States, the first six books of the original series were thought too short to publish independently. Most of the stories were collected into three omnibus volumes; the final two books were published separately. The last book of the series, Every Living Thing, sold 650,000 copies in six weeks in the United States and stayed on The New York Times Best Seller list for eight months.[18]: 433 

Recent research indicates that the first two books sold only a few thousand copies in the UK, initially. "It was a New York publisher [St. Martin's Press] who changed the childish-looking cover art and combined the works under the title All Creatures Great and Small, becoming a best-seller in the US.[20] Its US editor, Tom McCormack, attributed the title to "a British guy in our marketing department, Michael Brooks";[21][22] however in a 1976 BBC interview Wight said it was "my daughter's title" and "she thought that one out".[23]

Contrary to widespread belief, Wight's books are only partially autobiographical, with many of the stories only loosely based on real events or people. Where stories do have a basis in genuine veterinary cases, they are frequently ones that Wight attended in the 1960s and 70s. Most of the stories are set in the fictional town of Darrowby, which Wight described as a composite of Thirsk, its nearby market towns Richmond, Leyburn, and Middleham, and 'a fair chunk of my own imagination'.[24] Wight anonymised the majority of his characters by renaming them: notably, he called Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Siegfried and Tristan Farnon respectively, and used the name Helen Alderson for his wife Joan.

When Wight's first book was published, Brian Sinclair "was delighted to be captured as Tristan and remained enthusiastic about all Wight's books".[20] Donald Sinclair was offended by his portrayal and said, "Alfred, this book is a real test of our friendship." (He never called Wight "Alf", mirrored in the books by Siegfried always referring to Herriot as "James" rather than "Jim".) Things calmed down, however, and the pair continued to work together until they retired. Wight's son stated in The Real James Herriot that Sinclair's character in the novels was considerably toned down, and that Sinclair was even more eccentric than the Herriot books portrayed.[25]

According to The New York Times, Donald Sinclair actually had more rough edges than the Siegfried character. "Sinclair’s real-life behaviour was much more eccentric. (He once discharged a shotgun during a dinner party to let his guests know it was time to leave.)"[1] When asked whether Donald Sinclair was eccentric, actor Samuel West (who researched the vet for his role in the Channel 5 TV series) replied, "Oh, no ... he was mad".[26]

The books are novels, and most sources agree that about 50 percent of the content was pure fiction.[9]

In an BBC interview taped in 1976, Wight recalled his life in Yorkshire, his career and the success of his books.[27][28]

Film and television adaptations

Part of the BBC TV set for All Creatures Great and Small on permanent display at the World of James Herriot museum in Thirsk, North Yorkshire
Wight's books have been adapted for film and television, including the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small followed by It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet in 1976.

The BBC produced a television series based on Wight's books titled All Creatures Great and Small, which ran from 1978 to 1980 and 1988–1990; ninety episodes were broadcast altogether.[29] Wight was often present on set, and hosted gatherings for the cast and crew. "After filming we used to go for wonderful evenings in the Wensleydale Heifer with Tim Hardy and Chris Timothy," said Sandy Byrne, wife of the writer of the television series, Johnny Byrne. "Alf and Joan would come along. It was always immensely exciting. We made very good friends with Alf and Joan. We saw them several times over the years. Alf was still practising then, so his car would be packed with dogs. Joan was a very easy, down-to-earth person, I liked her very much. We also got to know their children, Jim and Rosie, very well."[30]

In September 2010, the Gala Theatre in Durham presented the world premier professional stage adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small.[31]

In 2010, the BBC commissioned the three-part drama Young James Herriot inspired by Wight's early life and studies in Scotland. The series drew on archives and the diaries and case notes which Wight kept during his student days in Glasgow, as well as the biography written by his son.[32] The first episode was shown on BBC One on 18 December 2011, and drew six million viewers. The BBC announced in April 2012 that the series would not return.[33] A book titled Young James Herriot was written to accompany the series by historian and author John Lewis-Stempel.[34]

A new production of All Creatures Great and Small was produced by Playground Entertainment for Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, and PBS in the United States.[35] The production received some funding from Screen Yorkshire.[36] Most of the filming was completed in the Yorkshire Dales, including many exteriors in Grassington as the setting for the fictional town of Darrowby.[37]

The first series, of six episodes and a special Christmas episode, premiered in the UK on Channel 5 on 1 September 2020 and in the US on PBS as part of Masterpiece on 10 January 2021. All Creatures Great and Small was renewed for a second series, also of six episodes plus a Christmas special.[38]

Recognition and tourist industry

The World of James Herriot Museum in Thirsk, June 2018

Grand Central Class 180 DMU train named after James Herriot

Commemorative plaque at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk
Thirsk has become a magnet for fans of Wight's books.[39] Following his death, the practice at 23 Kirkgate was restored and converted into a museum, The World of James Herriot, which focuses on his life and writings. A local pub renamed itself the "Darrowby Inn," after the village name that Wight created to represent the locale in which he practised. (By 2020, the pub had been renamed The Red Bear.)[40]

Portions of the surgery sets used in the All Creatures Great and Small BBC series are on display at the museum, including the living room and dispensary. Some of the original contents of the surgery can be found at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming in Murton, York.[41]

Grand Central train company operates train services from Sunderland to London King's Cross, stopping at Thirsk. Class 180 DMU No. 180112 was named 'James Herriot' in Wight's honour, and was dedicated on 29 July 2009 by his daughter Rosemary and son James.[42] Actor Christopher Timothy, who played Herriot in the BBC television series, unveiled a statue of Wight in October 2014 at Thirsk Racecourse.[43]

Wight received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1979, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1979 New Year Honours.[44][45] In 1994, the library at Glasgow Veterinary College was named the 'James Herriot Library' in honour of Wight's achievements. Wight was deeply gratified by this recognition, replying in his acceptance letter, "I regard this as the greatest honour that has ever been bestowed upon me."[8]: 351–352  He was a lifelong supporter of Sunderland A.F.C., and was made an honorary president of the club in 1991.[8]: 342 

A blue plaque was placed at Wight's childhood home in Glasgow in October 2018.[46] There is also a blue plaque at 23 Kirkgate, Wight's former surgery.[47] Another blue plaque was unveiled by his children at his birthplace in Brandling Street in Sunderland in September 2021.[48]

Minor planet 4124 Herriot is named in his honour.[49]

Published works
The original UK series
If Only They Could Talk (1970) ISBN 0-330-23783-7
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1972) ISBN 0-330-23782-9
Let Sleeping Vets Lie (1973) (including a few chapters that were not included in the omnibus editions All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful) ISBN 978-0-7181-1115-1
Vet in Harness (1974) ISBN 0-330-24663-1
Vets Might Fly (1976) ISBN 0-330-25221-6
Vet in a Spin (1977) ISBN 0-330-25532-0
The Lord God Made Them All (1981) ISBN 0-7181-2026-4
Every Living Thing (1992) ISBN 0-7181-3637-3
Collected works from the original UK series
In the United States, Wight's first six books were considered too short to publish independently, so they were combined in pairs to form three omnibus volumes.

All Creatures Great and Small (1972) (incorporating If Only They Could Talk, It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, and three chapters from Let Sleeping Vets Lie) ISBN 0-330-25049-3
All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) (incorporating the majority of the chapters from Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness) ISBN 0-330-25580-0
All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977) (incorporating Vets Might Fly and Vet in a Spin) ISBN 0-7181-1685-2
The Lord God Made Them All (1981) ISBN 978-0312498344
The Best of James Herriot (First Edition: 1982) ISBN 9780312077167; (Complete Edition: 1998) ISBN 9780312192365
James Herriot's Dog Stories (1986) ISBN 0-3124-3968-7
James Herriot's Cat Stories (1994) ISBN 0-7181-3852-X
James Herriot's Yorkshire Stories (1998) ISBN 978-0718143848
James Herriot's Animal Stories (2015) ISBN 9781250059352
Books for children
Moses the Kitten (1984) ISBN 0-312-54905-9
Only One Woof (1985) ISBN 0-312-09129-X
The Christmas Day Kitten (1986) ISBN 0-312-13407-X
Bonny's Big Day (1987) ISBN 0-312-01000-1
Blossom Comes Home (1988) ISBN 0-7181-3060-X
The Market Square Dog (1989) ISBN 0-312-03397-4
Oscar, Cat-About-Town (1990) ISBN 0-312-05137-9
Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb (1991) ISBN 0-312-06404-7
James Herriot's Treasury for Children (1992) ISBN 0-312-08512-5
Other books
James Herriot's Yorkshire (1979) ISBN 0-7181-1753-0
James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited (1999) ISBN 978-0312206291

James Herriot (1916-1995) was the bestselling author of memoirs including All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, and Every Living Thing. At age 23, Herriot qualified for veterinary practice with the Glasgow Veterinary College, and moved to the town of Thirsk in Yorkshire to work in a rural practice. He would live in, work in, and write about the region for the rest of his life. Though he dreamed for years of writing a book, his veterinary work and his family kept him busy, and he did not start writing until the age of 50. In 1979, he was awarded the title Order of the British Empire (OBE). His veterinary practice in Yorkshire, England, is now tended by his son, Jim Wight.

Who is James Herriot and How “True” is All Creatures Great and Small?
JANUARY 10, 2021

The TV series All Creatures Great and Small is a remake of the beloved book series by James Herriot, premiering on THIRTEEN on January 10, 2021 (see entire schedule). The heartwarming tales of a veterinarian who serves an English countryside community kick off the 50th anniversary of Masterpiece, which first aired a television adaptation of the stories in the late 1970s and late 1980s.

Now, new viewers are being introduced to Herriot, who wrote about his life and barnyard and household visits as a veterinarian more than half a century ago. How real is the story? In this FAQ, Masterpiece covers both the true history behind All Creatures Great and Small, and how characters, plot, location, and even time period are embellishments on Herriot’s life experiences (see sources for this FAQ, below.)

Read on for 15 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about James Herriot, author of the All Creatures Great and Small books.

Was James Herriot a real person?
James Herriot was the pen name chosen by James Alfred “Alf” Wight, a rural veterinarian whose semi-autobiographical stories about caring for animals in the Yorkshire Dales have been enjoyed by generations. His gift was an easy, conversational style that captured a fast-disappearing way of life and offered insights into human nature with warmth and ample humor. Wight chose the pseudonym partly because the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons frowned on members who advertised.

The alter ego of Jim Herriot was actually the name of a professional soccer goalkeeper from Scotland.

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Was Wight Scottish or English?
Though both Alf Wight and his character James Herriot speak with a Scottish accent, Wight is actually a born Englishman. His English parents moved into a tenement apartment in Glasgow early in their marriage. Young Hannah Wight returned to her family home in Sunderland, England to give birth in October 1916. Mrs. Wight and her 3-week-old baby returned to Glasgow, where Alf Wight had a happy, if poor, working class upbringing in the industrial city for the next twenty-odd years. He always considered himself a Glaswegian at heart and certainly sounded like one!

Where did Alf Wight (a.k.a. James Herriot) have his veterinary practice?
Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College at age 23 and started looking for a position. Contrary to popular belief, his very first professional job was back in Sunderland, England where he still had relatives to board with.

A modern three-story brick building viewed from a sloping side street, lined with low-lying flowering plants.
University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. Photo: Vojtěch Dostál

That first position was tenuous; it depended on the success of a greyhound racing stadium nearby. In July 1940, Alf Wight found a more secure job in the rural practice of Donald Sinclair at Skeldale House, 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk, England. Incidents described in the James Herriot books mostly occurred in and around Thirsk—about 20 miles from the actual Yorkshire Dales.

With the exception of two and a half-years in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Alf Wight remained at the Thirsk practice for the rest of his career. He practiced alongside brothers Donald and Brian Sinclair, then a string of different students and assistants, and finally, his own son as of 1967.

After close to half a century caring for animals—long after his celebrity—Wight retired in 1989 at age 73. The veterinary practice is still an ongoing enterprise.

The town of “Darrowby” in the Herriot books is actually a mixture of Thirsk, Richmond, Leybourn, and Middleham. Despite the fictional name, readers soon identified the actual location, which became an attraction for tourists with sites celebrating the popular vet’s life. The original Skeldale House is now The World of James Herriot museum.

A tv set built to look like a simple veterinarian's dispensary shows shelving with assorted medicinal bottles, part of a fireplace and a small desk.
Part of the BBC TV set for All Creatures Great and Small (1978-80; 1988-90) on permanent display at the World of James Herriot museum in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. Photo: G1MFG

How did Wight become a writer?
Alf Wight thoroughly appreciated great authors and was himself a talented letter writer. Over the years, his correspondence addressed both the enormous changes taking place in his profession and observations about locals he met, their customs and folk remedies. When verbally regaling his family with anecdotes, Wight repeatedly pledged to turn them into stories someday. It wasn’t until he was 50 years old that he began to pursue publication in earnest.

After some false starts writing about his outdoor past times including golf and football (soccer), Wight turned to the subject nearest his heart: his own career. While he claimed to have not regularly kept a personal diary, Wight did consistently record his treatment of local animals as “headings” in notebooks. With these headings or diaries or both, he was able to reproduce incidents from prior years with great detail.

He began what would be his first published book in 1965, writing in the evenings in front of the television, Olivetti typewriter in lap. The first draft was completed in 18 months, but it took four years for Wight to find a UK publisher. If Only They Could Talk was released as a serial in the London Evening Standard and then published in April 1970 with 3,000 copies printed for UK distribution.

It was followed by It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet in 1972. Fearing locals would recognize themselves in the stories and feel others were having a laugh at their expense, Wight did not want anyone to know he had been published. His wish was thwarted soon enough.

When did James Herriot become famous?
Alf Wight’s first two books of stories sold a few thousand copies each in the UK. It was a New York publisher who changed the childish-looking cover art and combined the works under the title “All Creatures Great and Small,” a phrase borrowed from the 19th century English hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful.

The new volume wasn’t reviewed until months after its 1972 publication and only when positive word of mouth created a buzz. It became a U.S. best-seller soon thereafter and saved St. Martin’s press, which was financially struggling at the time.

Between 1972 and 1979, Wight wrote four more books, astonishing for someone working as a full-time veterinarian. By the mid-70s he was a household name. American fans became so commonplace in the waiting room at Skeldale House that he set aside two afternoons a week to greet them and sign books.

According to his family, Wight spoke little about his achievements, and his attitude to friends and clients remained unchanged. Regarding the people of Thirsk, his son has written that “There is no doubt that a large proportion of them—farmers included—were not only well aware of his achievements but derived pleasure themselves through his worldwide acclaim.”

Despite tremendous success as an author over 24 years, Wight continued to view writing as a cherished hobby and the welfare of the Sinclair and White veterinary practice his priority. He worked full time as a vet up until 1980 and didn’t outright retire for another nine years.

Are Herriot’s characters based on real people?
A woman and man, both in long sleeves, rest their arms on a stone wall in front of them. Behind them is a sloping pasture.
All Creatures Great and Small on PBS – shown L to R: Helen Alderson (played by Rachel Shenton), James Herriott (played by Nicholas Ralph). Photo: Ed Miller

The published stories share numerous autobiographical elements from Alf Wight’s life as a country vet: Wight lived and worked with Donald and Brian Sinclair in Skeldale House; there really was a love-hate relationship between the brothers; and, the elder Donald’s unpredictability and bluster, along with Brian’s antics and love of fun, provided much material when Wight later turned to writing.

Donald Sinclair was said to have strongly disliked his portrayal in the books and later on-screen, never believing himself to be impulsive or inconsistent. Meanwhile, Brian was delighted to be captured as Tristan and remained enthusiastic about all Wight’s books.

The character of Helen Alderson is based on Joan Danbury—not a farmer’s daughter at all but a secretary in Thirsk. (She actually did cause a stir in Thirsk by apparently being the first woman there to wear pants, however.) Contrary to the stories, Alf Wight met her in a group outing to a local dance. Evidently, he felt she was worth pursuing from the first, though she had a number of boyfriends and admirers. They wed in November 1941 and spent early married life on the top floor of Skeldale House.

Always concerned about locals’ anonymity, Wight set his stories in the Yorkshire Dales years before his real experiences occurred. He changed the name, age, and even the sex of many characters—although a Miss Marjorie Warner and her Pekingese Bambi are unmistakably embodied by Mrs. Pumphries and Tricki Woo.

An elderly woman with blond bob and bangs and wearing red lipstick and scarlet jacket holds a long-haired, small pekingnese dog in a library.
In MASTERPIECE “All Creatures Great and Small,” Dame Diana Rigg as Mrs. Pumphrey, the owner of Tricki-Woo (Derek).

How did Wight feel about the film and TV adaptations?
Whether he wanted it or not, Alf Wight’s fame sky-rocketed once a film adaptation of his books was released in 1975. According to his son, Wight’s emotions at that time “were ones of pride mixed with incredulity.”Wight approved scripts but did not want the job of veterinary advisor on set. And though the role of Donald Sinclair went to Anthony Hopkins, Wight’s real-life partner again did not approve of his depiction. When the first film was well reviewed, a second was undertaken. It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet premiered in 1976, another box office triumph.

The BBC series came next and aired all over the world in two phases between 1978 and 1990. Again, Wight approved scripts, paid regular visits to the set, and was said to thoroughly enjoy the series. A relatively unknown actor named Christopher Timothy gained almost immediate fame playing James Herriot and developed a genuine respect for the real Alf Wight. The Wight family reports that of all the actors they met during those years, Timothy was the one who kept most closely in touch.

What is the legacy of James Herriot?
A sky blue metal plaque dedicated to James Alfred Wight is affixed to a stone brick wall.
Commemorative plaque at Wight’s original practice in Thirsk.

The James Herriot books have never been out of print since their 1970 debut. They have sold over 60 million copies worldwide, been translated into 20-plus languages, and adapted for film and television.

For someone who started with practically nothing, it is a massive achievement. Alf Wight’s stories are timeless because of the emphasis on his relationships with the people of Yorkshire and their animals. Providing an image of veterinarians as caring for people and animals both, the stories have inspired many to become vets themselves. His focus on the importance of community in our lives gives Alf Wight’s work an enduring power and contemporary resonance.

Alf Wight died in 1995 at age 78 from pancreatic cancer in his home near Thirsk. Quite a variety of accolades were bestowed on him both before and after his death. There are two James Herriot blue plaques in Thirsk and Glasgow, respectively. A pub, a street, and a train are all named in his honor. A statue of Herriot stands at Thirsk Racecourse. Wight was no doubt much prouder of his many literary and veterinary honors. A highlight was being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1979 for his contributions to literature.

What is the order of James Herriot titles?
If Only They Could Talk (1970 in UK)

It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet (1972 in UK)

All Creatures Great and Small (1972 as US compilation)

Let Sleeping Vets Lie (1973 in UK)

Vet in Harness (1974 in UK)

All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974 as US compilation)

Vets Might Fly (1976 in UK)

Vet in a Spin (1977 in UK)

All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977 as US compilation)

James Herriot’s Yorkshire (1979)

The Lord God Made Them All (1981)

Every Living Thing (1992)

James Herriot Anthology Compilations
Animal Stories, Tame & Wild (1979 in UK)

The Best of James Herriot (1982)

James Herriot’s Dog Stories (1986 in UK)

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children (1992 in US)

James Herriot’s Cat Stories (1994 in UK)

Seven Yorkshire Tales (1995 in UK)

James Herriot’s Yorkshire Village (1995)

James Herriot’s Favorite Dog Stories (1996)

James Herriot’s Yorkshire Stories (1997 in UK)

James Herriot’s Animal Stories (1997)

James Herriot’s Yorkshire Revisited (1999)

James Herriot’s Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children (2005)

James Herriot Children’s Picture Books
Moses the Kitten (1984)

Only One Woof (1985)

The Christmas Day Kitten (1986)

Bonny’s Big Day (1987)

Blossom Comes Home (1988)

The Market Square Dog (1989)

Oscar: Cat About Town (1990)

Smudge’s Day Out (1991)

Smudge, The Little Lost Lamb (1991)

FAQ Content Sources
James Herriot’s Yorkshire by James Herriot and Derry Brabbs. St. Martin’s Griffin. 1981 edition.
James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet by Graham Lord. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. 1997.
James Herriot: A Critical Companion by Michael John Rossi. Greenwood Press. 1977.
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight. Ballantine Books, 1999.
Veterinary Practice Journal, “All Creatures Great and Small” by John Periam. Improve International. February 2020.
Sunderland Echo, “The Story of James Herriot: The Lad from Roker Who Sold Over 60 Million Books” by Tony Gillan. August 2, 2020. JPI Media Publishing Ltd.

The James Herriot Library at Glasgow Veterinary School is named for James Alfred Wight (1916-1995), who became famous under the pseudonym James Herriot for his books of stories about the life of a country vet.

Wight was educated at the Glasgow Veterinary College and qualified as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1939. After as short spell working in Sunderland he joined a practice in Thirsk in rural North Yorkshire, and began to write about his experiences. If Only They Could Talk was published in 1969, and it was followed by six more books, two films and a popular television series, All Creatures Great and Small. The author was appointed OBE in 1979.

Wight took the pseudonym James Herriot to avoid breaking Royal Academy of Veterinary Surgeons regulations regarding advertising. He chose the name after attending a football match in which the Scotland internationalist Jim Herriot played in goal for Birmingham City.

James Herriot's private hell: The shocking truth about the man behind TV's most famous vet
By JENNY JOHNSTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL
UPDATED: 22:30 BST, 24 September 2010

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Jim Wight is talking about his father's 'little attacks of melancholy'. His quaint turn of phrase evokes a bygone era when expressions such as 'having a turn' or 'an attack of the vapours' might just as easily be used.

But the much harsher word 'depression' would, today, be applied to describe his condition.

Jim says of his father, Alf - who is better known to millions by his pen name and alter ego James Herriot - 'My dad had a wonderfully happy life, but it was one that included little periods of depression, or whatever you like to call it.

The real James Herriot: Author Alf Wight - who used a pen name - based the character on his own experiences as a country vet, but he was plagued by depression and feelings of inadequacy
The real James Herriot: Author Alf Wight - who used a pen name - based the character on his own experiences as a country vet

'He had the big one - a proper nervous breakdown - when I was in sixth form, but there were other little episodes, never lasting very long, throughout his life.

'Once, when he was having one of these attacks, I asked what was wrong, and he said he didn't know. He couldn't describe it as anything other than "overwhelming melancholy".'

How poignant then, that the country vet who took to writing about his experiences was unable to explain parts of his own life.

To this day, James Herriot and the fictionalised accounts of his life - based almost entirely on Alf's, but tweaked to avoid libel claims - remain etched on the national psyche, to the point that his old stomping ground, the Yorkshire Dales, is still known as Herriot Country.

Fifteen years after his death, he is still much loved. Yet the man whose books, such as All Creatures Great And Small, brought joy to millions was plagued by depression and feelings of inadequacy - due largely to his relationship with his own parents.

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Although from a modest background themselves, his parents never approved of Alf's choice of bride - Joan Danbury, a secretary - because they were socially ambitious for him.

His mother, Hannah, who had delusions of grandeur because her work as a dressmaker brought her into contact with another social scene, refused to come to the wedding; his father, James Alfred, stayed away in solidarity, and Alf was devastated.

It was after his own father's death - by which point Alf had a teenage family himself - that old wounds resurfaced and, in 1960, he suffered a nervous breakdown. Jim partly blames the family history.

'Although they had no money, his parents had scrimped and saved to send him to private school. It was because of this that he had got into university, and been able to follow his vocation. Twenty years on, he was hit badly by the death of his father, and maybe some old worries came to the fore.'

Jim, 67, who followed in his father's footsteps, first as a vet and then as a writer, believes now that Alf was tortured by the thought that he wasn't doing a good job as a father.

TV series: Peter Davison (left) as Tristan Farnon and Christopher Timothy as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, the popular series from the books of James Herriott
Peter Davison (left) as Tristan Farnon and Christopher Timothy as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small which was based on the books of Herriot

'It was linked in some way with his mother wanting certain standards for him. He thought he was failing us because he hadn't sent us to private school. Dad just couldn't afford to. With hindsight, it was a needless worry.

'I couldn't have had a better education, and the same goes for my sister, Rosie. I went to university and Rosie got accepted to both Oxford and Cambridge. But in the midst of his difficulties, my father couldn't see that. With depression, you can't put things into proportion.'

That inability to think rationally seeped into the marriage. At one point, Alf became convinced that Joan - always an outgoing, even mildly flirtatious woman - was having an affair.

There was no basis for his fears, but they tortured him anyway. The 'episode' lasted two years and resulted in Alf having controversial electroconvulsive therapy.

'I was in my late teens at the time, and I was shielded from the worst of it,' Jim remembers. 'All I knew was that my father kind of withdrew from everything - from us, from life really. He never talked much about it.'

Alf joined the Yorkshire veterinary practice of Donald Sinclair ( Siegfried Farnon in the book) in 1940. Twenty-six years later he started writing what was to become his ever popular memoir, All Creatures Great And Small.

In all, he wrote eight books about his life as a vet, which were adapted into a TV series and two films. Now, the house where he worked for most of his life - and the model for the vet's home in the famous TV series - is a museum that receives some 50,000 visitors a year. And his fans are not just from the UK.

Jim talks about his own introduction to the James Herriot world - although it would be many years before it was formally known as that.

'From the age of three my father took me to work with him,' he says. 'When he got a call, I'd hop in the car with him and we'd be off, on this great adventure. By five, I was pretty much qualified to do the job myself. There was never a question of me not being a vet.'

As well as writing his father's biography, Jim has also contributed to Herriot: A Vet's Life, a book of nostalgic reflections by the famed Yorkshire writer WR Mitchell, a friend of his father's.

It's more than 30 years since the TV series starring Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy was first screened, but James Herriot will soon be introduced to a new generation. One of the original scriptwriters is currently penning a new series - a prequel which focuses on his experiences at vet school in Glasgow.

Would his father have approved? Alf was fond of saying that he was a vet first and an author second. He would often make the point that, in the middle of the night, when a cow was in distress, farmers cared not a jot for echoes of George Bernard Shaw.

'He always said he was 90 per cent vet and ten per cent author, although his earnings were 90 per cent from writing and ten per cent from veterinary work.

'People often ask me when my father actually retired from veterinary work. That always has me scratching my head. He never really did. He kept coming in, even though he wasn't taking a penny in pay. He just did it because he loved it. It was a way of life, not just a job.'

Although we may never know whether the writing process helped Alf Wight come to terms with the difficult parts of his own past, his son believes that his father remained fascinated with the human condition until he died.

'He was an incredibly sensitive man, with a deep interest in people. I think that's what made him a wonderful writer. One of the things that people get most wrong about my father is that he wrote "nice little stories about animals".

A play based on his work is opening soon and someone asked me recently, "How on earth will they get the animals on stage?" To me, that misses the point. My father didn't write about animals - he wrote about people. That, I think, is what keeps his work alive today.'