Daphne Buckmaster

(1926 — )

Daphne Buckmaster (1950s). Courtesy of Rob Hansen.

Daphne Buckmaster (formerly Bradley) was a UK fan originally from Chatham in Kent active from the late 1940s through to the 1960s. She began attending SF conventions in 1948 where she was reportedly 'the only unattached woman' at the Whitcon. She was a member of the British Fantasy Library (BFL), the Woolwich Science Fiction and Vargo Statten Appreciation Society in 1954. She was a member (and OE) of OMPA.

In Esprit #1 she described early experiences with Wells, Doyle and Haggard but:

I did not live near one of the street markets which seem to have formed part of the early environment of most fen and thereby missed the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the American magazines
... 
until about the end of the war when my brother began buying the British Editions of Astounding and Unknown. For a long time I scorned them but, after continual urging on his part, I at last gave in and tried one. That, of course, was my downfall. Or uprising. How long it was between then and the time when I bought a copy of the first issue of New Worlds, which was to put me on the road to fandom, I do not remember.

She remembered seeing an advertisement for the British Fantasy Library in either the first of second issue of New Worlds but there doesn't appear to be anything in either of those issues. She clearly learned of the BFL somehow which in turn led her to Operation Fantast and through that the London Circle, although she was initially reluctant to attend as a shy single woman. The prospect of the Whitcon in 1948 was more appealing. She subsequently became a regular at White Horse meetings, for a long time the only woman.

She began publishing her fanzine Esprit in 1954: at first it was intended only for circulation in the Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association (OMPA), but with the 13th issue in 1960 she decided to make it generally available. In 1960, she also released the fanzine Hobo, and also began publishing Random, of which three issues appeared, the first in 1960 and the second and third in 1961. She contributed art to other fanzines.

She married Ron Buckmaster in 1949. They moved to Scotland around 1960.

From May 1961 she was on the waitlist for FAPA. In April 1962 her address had changed to Wiltshire, seemingly reflecting another change in Ron's military posting and she was back in London by June. She finally topped the FAPA list in May 1966 when OE Bruce Pelz wrote:

Daphne Buckmaster (#1 last mailing) has been dropped. She was invited to fill the vacancy left by Al Lewis, and failed to respond (a belated response was received stating that her husband's new business is too demanding to allow her to join at this time.) 

In Distaff #1 (September 1958, p. 2), Ethel Lindsay described her:

Daphne Buckmaster is the only femme[1] fan I meet, who can draw, She produced the cover, invented the new name [of Femizine, now Distaff], and helped out with illos. When I first met her at the Manchester Con I had great difficulty believing that she was really married, she looked about 14 years old, she still looks very young and ingenious.

Fanzines and Apazines:

• Esprit [1954-early '60s] (for OMPA)
• Hobo [1960]
• Random [1960-61]

Cover of Distaff 1. Art by Daphne Buckmaster.

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Person

1926—

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