Margaret Campbell
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Campbell, born on October 29, 1886, on Hayling Island, England, was a prolific British author known for her extensive body of work, which includes approximately 150 published titles. Despite her humble beginnings and being largely self-educated, she had a notable career as a research assistant at the British Museum, which enhanced her interest in historical accuracy in her writings. She gained prominence under the pen name Marjorie Bowen, focusing mainly on historical romances, biographies, and gothic fiction. Some of her significant works include studies of historical figures such as Nell Gwyn and a trilogy about William III of England.
In addition to her historical narratives, Campbell explored the crime genre, publishing novels and true crime reconstructions under various pseudonyms, including Joseph Shearing. Her contributions to literature also encompassed short stories, plays, children's literature, and her autobiography. Campbell experienced personal loss, having married twice and raising children amidst the backdrop of her literary career. She passed away on December 23, 1952, leaving behind a rich legacy in diverse literary forms and styles.
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Margaret Campbell
Writer
- Born: October 29, 1886
- Birthplace: Hayling Island, Hampshire, England
- Died: December 23, 1952
Biography
Gabrielle Margaret Vere Campbell was born October 29, 1886, on Hayling Island in Hampshire, England, the daughter of Vere Douglas Campbell and Josephine Elisabeth Ellis (Bowen) Campbell. Her parents were poor, and she was largely self-educated, although she briefly studied art in Paris and at the Slade School in London. Her work as a British Museum research assistant stimulated her interest in careful historical research, which became a noteworthy feature of her writing. Her first novel, The Viper of Milan (1906), was successful, and from then on she concentrated on her writing.
Realizing that critics frown on extremely prolific authors, she adopted a series of pen names for her approximately 150 published works. The exact total is not known; the number of pen names she used is still in question, although scholars generally agree on the pen names of Marjorie Bowen, Joseph Shearing, George R. Preedy, Robert Paye, and John Winch. Under the name Marjorie Bowen, she primarily wrote historical romances and biographies, some fictionalized. These include studies of actress Nell Gwyn (Nell Gwyn: A Decoration, 1926; United States title, Mistress Nell Gwyn, 1926) and a trilogy about William III of England—I Will Maintain (1910; revised and reissued 1943), Defender of the Faith (1911), and God and the King (1911). Her works as Marjorie Bowen also brought her attention as a writer of gothic fiction, which she began producing as early as 1909 with Black Magic: A Tale of the Rise and Fall of Antichrist. The Last Bouquet: Some Twilight Tales (1932) was her first collection of purely horror stories.
Under the name George R. Preedy, she wrote a biography of an early feminist, The Shining Woman: Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 1759-1797 (1937). Under the same name, she published a lecture, Ethics in Modern Art (1939), in which she examined such women writers as Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, and Rosamond Lehman. In 1931, starting with Withering Fires (under the name Bowen) she began publishing crime novels and reconstructions of true crimes. Many were published under the name of Joseph Shearing. These include Airing in a Closed Carriage (1943), a retelling of the 1889 Florence Maybrick case, in which Maybrick was accused of killing her husband, and For Her to See (1947; United States title, So Evil My Love) inspired by the 1876 case of Florence Bravo, also suspected of killing her husband. Under the name George R. Preedy, she published My Tattered Loving (1937; reissued 1972 as Marjorie Bowen’s The King’s Favourite), a retelling of the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in a murder that implicated courtiers of King James I. Her pure crime fiction includes such work as Album Leaf (1933; United States title, The Spider in the Cup, 1934). Campbell also wrote numerous collections of short stories, plays (primarily as George R. Preedy), a screenplay, children’s literature, and an autobiography, The Debate Continues: Being the Autobiography of Marjorie Bowen(1939), published under her own name. She edited collections of horror fiction and love letters.
In 1912, Campbell married Don Zeffrino Emilio Constanza, a Sicilian, and they lived in Tuscany until her husband’s death from illness in 1916. They had two children, one of whom survived. In 1917, Campbell married Arthur L. Long, and they had two sons. Campbell died on December 23, 1952.