She lived in Christchurch, Dorset, England. A publisher and adventurer, she was the owner of Ashby books. In her twenties, she wrote three mystery novels.

Incredibly, this is the only detailed notice I can find at this time! (It's not clear if she died in December or November. Btw, the distance between her home and London was about 100 miles!)

https://www.facebook.com/societyofwomenwriters/photos/a.288600114519648/3824877920891832/?type=3&eid=ARBger7v-cDlESK-BYAJ0uqf3MvMp6VK7hNixmABTu_p4I6ybT4ESej2tkCagnjBaOzzf4B1ZUvArQhW
(with photo)

"I am sad to report that my friend, and very long-standing member of the SWWJ (Society of Women Writers and Journalists), Gwynneth Ashby, has passed away suddenly at the age of 98. Gwynneth was well known to many members and had until recently regularly
attended meetings in London, travelling from her home in Dorset.

"Gwynneth led a very long and interesting life as a teacher, lecturer and geography consultant and wrote children’s novels and mainly children’s geography books used widely in schools. Gwynneth was a writer and editor and travelled frequently to
Australia, her last visit in 2019.

"I have attached a picture I took of Gwynneth on her 95th birthday. I know she liked this one. At present I know no other details nor arrangements."

http://www.swwvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WriteAway-March-2015.pdf
(long Australian interview from 2015 - it starts on page 4)

https://issuu.com/bartonbugle/docs/mercury_jun18_web
(A sometimes funny June 2018 article about her travels - it starts on page 16 and shows her with a kangaroo - unless it's a wallaby)

From Contemporary Authors:

CAREER:
Teacher in girls' schools in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1943-45, and London, England, 1945-47; A. & C. Black Ltd. (publishers), London, member of editorial staff (educational section), 1948-50; teacher in Australia and Fijii Islands, 1950-52, with one
period as head of school for aborigines in North Queensland, Australia; writer for young people.

Author of two television plays for children, "Adventure at Cow Crossing" and "The Friendly Bandit, " and scripts for a British Broadcasting Corp. school radio program, "Fiji and Its Capital Suva, " "Norway-Winter Leisure, " and "Giant's Causeway."
Contributor to Lady.

"Gwynneth Ashby has traveled in more than fifteen countries in a 'non-tourist' type of way, staying with the people of the country or in youth hostels."

http://www.janeaustendetectives.com/welcome/who-we-are

Next to her photo:

“Follow the Jane Austen Detectives on their mission to reveal the food, locations and alternative medicines lurking behind the lives of world famous female author Jane Austen.”

"I’ve always had an enthusiasm for travel, having taught in the UK, the Fiji Islands and North Queensland with Aboriginal children. I’ve also done a stint in educational publishing before going freelance. My other love is mountain walking, which I
was able to indulge through book commissions on Norway, Sweden and Austria, although I reverted to a bicycle for a book on Belgium. The Far East drew me like gravity though; to write Korean Village, I lived in a remote village in central Korea, and for
four books on Japan I travelled with boots and rucksack from north to south of the islands, using youth hostels and local transport, living for short periods in Kyushu, where my last two books are based. Now, I want to share my in-depth knowledge of Jane
Austen.

"My latest non-fiction book – as yet no publisher – is a 1950′s account of my travels in outback Australia: crossing the pot-holed Nullarbor Plain, enduring suffocating heat, dust and thirst; hitchhiking in a strange variety of vehicles from Sydney
to Cairns; living with and teaching Aboriginal children on a remote settlement on the Cape York Peninsula Reserve, and finally travelling to Thursday Island up the west coast of Cape York in an old pearling lugger.

"I’ve written magazine travel features, children’s television plays and geography scripts for BBC Radio for Schools. I’m a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and
Journalists."

https://www.google.com/search?q=gwynneth+ashby+books&rlz=1CAJMBU_enUS946&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTu8vm9M7vAhVCmeAKHSXwBuMQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1366&bih=649
(some book covers)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4822719.Gwynneth_Margaret_Ashby
(two reviews of her travel books)

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/gwynneth-ashby/looking-at-norway/
(review of Looking at Norway)

WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:

Mystery of Coveside House, Hodder & Stoughton, 1946.
The Secret Ring, Hodder & Stoughton, 1948.

Cruise of the Silver Spray, Hodder & Stoughton, 1951.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30040932654&searchurl=an%3Dgm%2Bashby%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image12#&gid=1&pid=1
(book cover)

The Land and People of Sweden, A. & C. Black, 1951.
The Land and People of Belgium, A. & C. Black, 1955.

(With Jean Gadsby and David Gadsby) Looking at the World Today, Book 4, A. & C. Black, 1960, 3rd edition, 1965.
Let's Look at Austria, Museum Press, 1966.
Looking at Norway, Lippincott, 1967, 3rd edition, 1971.
Looking at Japan, Lippincott, 1969, revised edition, 1971.

Take A Trip to Japan, Watts (New York, NY) (London, England), 1980.
Korean Village, 1986.
A Family in South Korea, Lerner (Minneapolis, MN), 1987.

School by a Volcano, 1994.

We Go to School in Japan, 2001.



Lenona.

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