Bobby Ellis

## Roberta Ellis (Bobby)

**Roberta "Bobby" Henrietta Ellis** is a main character in the St Clare's series. She is a student at *St Clare's School* and first appears *Summer Term at St Clares.*

## Backstory

Bobby used to have a doll when she was younger called Angela.

## History

### Summer Term at St Clares

Bobby arrives and instantly becomes best friends with Janet Robins. The class ask Bobby to get rid of Miss Roberts so they can get out of an oral maths test, so Bobby ensures that a note is delivered to her so that she goes to the staffroom for enough time to allow her, Bobby, to change the clock. Janet accidentally spills water down Prudence Arnold's back, so Miss Roberts makes Janet write out some geography facts in Prudence's book. Janet is angry because she wanted to ask Miss Roberts to let her off prep to go the cinema. Bobby plays a similar trick, getting Janet out of prep to go to the cinema by pretending she is going to Mam'zelle for coaching. Meanwhile, Bobby writes the facts in Prudence's book. Prudence realises and sneaks to Miss Roberts, who confronts Janet. Bobby snarls at Prudence in retaliation, and later nicknames her Sour Milk. Bobby also tries to duck Prudence in the swimming pool when she is rude about Carlotta Brown and Janet pushes her in. Bobby takes a frog out of the class vivarium to put on Prudence's desk, but it hops towards Carlotta instead. Carlotta put the frog on Prudence's desk, causing Prudence to squeal, disturb Mam'zelle's class and turn on Carlotta. Bobby humbly owns up to taking out the frog to Miss Roberts. Prudence exposes Carlotta's secret, so Bobby and the rest of the form send her to Coventry. Belinda Towers is not amused when Bobby tells her that it sounds too much like hard work to become the reserve girl for the tennis teams, and is short with her, leaving Bobby surprised. Janet is chosen as reserve, and when Isabel O'Sullivan is injured, Janet takes her place and they lose. Bobby feels bad about this later. Bobby decides to play a trick on Mam'zelle, pretending that a cat is lost in the classroom by using a squeaking biscuit. The result of this trick is that Mam'zelle decides to give the first form a test, horrifying the girls. Prudence attempts to sneak on Bobby to get a look at the questions, but Mam'zelle catches her at her game. Mam'zelle lets Bobby know that she knows it was a trick and isn't going to punish her. Prudence decides to to sneak out of bed, steal the questions and look up the answers. Bobby and Carlotta catch her, and when Bobby enters a scornful speech, Miss Theobald walks in to hear the last of it.

> "What a hypocrite you are, Prudence! You go about pretending to be so good and religious and proper - and yet you sneak and cheat whenever you get the chance. You look down on Carlotta because she was a circus girl - but I tell you, we look down on you because you are all the things people hate worse than any other in school, or in life - you are cunning, deceitful, untruthful - and an out-and-out cheat!
>
>

Miss Theobald asks the three girls to see her in the morning. She deals with Bobby first. The interview is cold, as she points out that Bobby is a cheat too - because she is cheating her parents by messing around when they pay high fees for her to come to school, she is cheating the school because she has good brains and won't use them, and is cheating herself because she is growing into a weaker character. Bobby is sent away to think this over, and she returns to Miss Theobald to announce her intention of a fresh start. The first formers are less than pleased, worried that Bobby is going to go prim and proper like Prudence. Bobby reassures them that will not happen.

### Second Form at St Clare's

Bobby goes into the second form with the rest of her form, just as outspoken as before, with Mirabel Unwin. She is also one of the more vocal critics of the second form's two head girls, Elsie Fanshawe and Anna Johnson. When Elsie wishes to be reinstated as head girl, Bobby rudely turns her down.