Margaret Lane

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Margaret Lane, 1935.
Memorial in St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Margaret Winifred Lane (23 June 1907 – 14 February 1994) was a British journalist, biographer and novelist, the author of more than two dozen books, and the second wife of Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon.

Early life[]

Margaret Lane was born on 23 June 1907, the daughter of Harry George Lane, a journalist, and Edith Webb.[1] She was educated at St Stephen's College (sisters of St John Baptist) and St Hugh's College, Oxford.[1]

Career[]

After university, she worked as a reporter for the Daily Express, from 1928 to 1931, and then as a special correspondent for the International News Service from 1931 to 1932, and as a journalist for the Daily Mail from 1932 to 1938.[2]

Lane wrote two biographies of Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Beatrix Potter: a Biography in 1946, and The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter in 1978. In 1984, the BBC produced a two-part television dramatisation of Potter's life based on Lane's books, The Tale of Beatrix Potter with Penelope Wilton in the lead, that was "praised as a simple yet intense story with just the right touches of unflinching reserve."[1] Lane also wrote books about the Brontë sisters (1953) and Samuel Johnson (1975).[1][2] Lane wrote more than two dozen books, including novels, travelogues and children's books.[1]

Personal life[]

In 1934, she married Bryan Wallace, son of the writer Edgar Wallace; the marriage was dissolved in 1939. Lane's biography of Edgar Wallace was published in 1938.[2]

In 1944, she married Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon (1901–1990), who had divorced his first wife Cristina (who then married Wogan Philipps, 2nd Baron Milford) the previous year.[2] They had two daughters, the writer Selina Hastings (Lady Selina Shirley Hastings, born 1945), and Lady Caroline Harriet Hastings (born 1946).[2]

She died in Southampton on 14 February 1994.[2]

Selected publications[]

  • Faith, Hope, No Charity (1935)[1]
  • At Last, the Island (1937)[1]
  • Edgar Wallace, the Biography of a Phenomenon (1938)[1]
  • Walk Into My Parlour (1941)[1]
  • Where Helen Lies (1944)[1]
  • The Tale of Beatrix Potter: a Biography (1946)[1]
  • The Brontë Story (1953)[1]
  • A Crown of Convolvulus (1954)[1]
  • A Calabash of Diamonds (1961)[1]
  • Life With Ionides (1963)[1]
  • A Night at Sea (1965)[1]
  • A Smell of Burning (1966)[1]
  • Purely for Pleasure (1966)[1]
  • The Day of the Feast (1968)[1]
  • Samuel Johnson and His World (1975)[1]
  • The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter (1978)[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Pace, Eric (21 February 1994). "Margaret Lane, 86, British Writer On Beatrix Potter and the Brontes". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Jenkins, Elizabeth (17 February 1994). "Obituary: Margaret Lane". The Independent. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
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