31 Jan 2022
On This Day
31 January 2022 Cheryl

31 January 1956: A.A. Milne dies

A.A. Milne & memorial plaque in Ashdown Forest

In 1860, A.A. Milne was invited to join an amateur cricket team formed by J.M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan). He was in good company with team members that included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, P.G. Wodehouse, H.G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, E.W. Hornung, and G.K. Chesterton. [1]

Allan Alexander Milne was a prolific English author of books, plays, and poems. He is best known for his books about Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin. Milne died quietly at his home in Hartfield, Sussex, on 31 January 1956, nearly two weeks after his 74th birthday.

Born in January 1882, A.A. Milne served in the British Army during World War I. He was wounded and discharged in 1918. After the war, he wrote several plays and articles that drew on his experiences in the military. To entertain his son, Milne wrote the first Winnie-the-Pooh story in 1926. It was published in the London Evening News and was an instant success, although Milne was uncomfortable with the public attention and criticism that came with it. He was a reserved and private person who struggled with depression.

Christopher Robin disliked the attention and fame that came from being the inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories and by adulthood, he only communicated with his parents via letter and refused to see them.

In 1925, the Milnes bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex, and moved there permanently in 1940. In 1952 a stroke and brain surgery left Milne an invalid, and although he was only expected to live another six weeks, he survived for more than three years.

A memorial service was held for Milne in London and his ashes were scattered in a crematorium’s memorial garden in Brighton. This was the last time Christopher saw his mother, though she lived another fifteen years. A memorial plaque in Ashdown Forest, unveiled by Christopher in 1979, commemorates Milne’s work.

After Milne’s death, his widow sold the rights to the Pooh characters to the Walt Disney Company in 1961. Disney has made a number of popular Pooh cartoon movies, as well as a large amount of Pooh-related merchandise.