Brian Jacques
British fiction writer known for Redwall animal fantasy novels (1939–2011)
James Brian Jacques (, as in "Jakes"; 15 June 1939 – 5 February 2011) was an English author known for his Redwall series of children's fantasy novels and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. He also completed two collections of short stories entitled The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns and Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
Early life
James Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool on 15 June 1939. Jacques' parents were James Alfred Jacques, a truck driver, and Ellen Ryan, both born in Liverpool. His father's family were from Lancashire, his mother's family all had Irish roots. Jacques' maternal grandfather, Matthew Ryan, was from Wexford, Ireland. Jacques was the middle child: he had an older brother, Tony, and a younger brother, James.
Jacques grew up in Kirkdale near to the Liverpool Docks. He was known by his middle name, Brian, because his father and younger brother were also named James. His father loved literature and read his boys adventure stories by Daniel Defoe, Sir Thomas Mallory, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, but also The Wind in the Willows with its cast of animals.
“Brian Jacques” enters the record as british fiction writer known for Redwall animal fantasy novels (1939–2011). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Brian, Jacques and British can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q468851. VIAF identifies the subject as 22289785. The Library of Congress control number is n85150113. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939 and 2011.
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This entry incorporates text from “Brian Jacques” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.