History

Maggie’s story starts before she was born. Back then, her mother, Mary, was a laundress in a boarding house in the East End of London. There was a lodger who was a sailor from the nearby docks. He was handsome, helpful, and a frequent visitor. One night, in Mary’s words, “she was young, foolish, and full of gin.” and Maggie’s older sister was the eventual product of that union.

At first this sailor sent some letters, coins, and gifts; then just some coins, and was away for months at a time. He returned to England and once more satisfied his physical needs. Before he left again, Mary clashed with him for more money for the growing child playing at her feet. Tragically, on that next voyage, the sailor was lost overboard rounding Cape Horn - or so Mary was eventually told. Proof that life goes on, a short time later, Mary discovered she was again with child, and this time Maggie was born.

Mary, ashamed of her situation of being a young unmarried woman with children, left London for distant relatives in Warwickshire in hopes of giving herself and her young daughters a better life. She supported herself and her daughters as a maid and laundress, relying on the kindness of family to support the rest. Eventually, she became acquainted with a local labourer, John Gladwin who doted on her in exchange for clean shirts, and while not being conventionally handsome, Mary soon fell for his kindness and simple honesty.

Seizing the opportunity to give her daughters a normal life, Mary and John were married. John even got employment locally as a labourer digging the route of the expanding railway lines. Mary and John eventually had 3 more children, though one did not survive a year. Only when their younger brothers were older did Maggie and her sister notice that they looked different from their siblings. The odd snippet of whispered gossip did not help. Mary had made the conscious decision to hide the girl’s true origins from them until they were old enough to fully understand.

Maggie and her sister were therefore raised as simple country lasses enjoying simple country pleasures. Maggie loved the outdoors and would spend as much time as she could in nature. The family’s prospects improved even more when their father was again employed with the railway, this time as a platelayer on a railway gang helping to now maintain the new railways. This kept him closer to home and meant more money for the family.

With precious little money, and being a girl, education was not a high priority for Maggie. The temptation to run and play was always greater. As Maggie grew older, she discovered folk dancing, and that she was good at it, and eventually boys. With blue eyes and wild hair, she discovered she was good at boys too but guarded her reputation fiercely.

She went to work as a part- time maid, while continuing to help her mother with washing. The announcement that nearby Stoneleigh was being renovated was a source of excitement for young Maggie, who found the idea of working in a grand house for a grand family an exciting prospect. A few months ago, she achieved her goal of working at Stoneleigh. She hopes that her enthusiasm and good spirit will allow her to progress in the staffing hierarchy.

When her daughters turned 18, her mother revealed their true origins to each of them. The revelation that the man she thought of as her father was not if fact her real biological father, shook her deeply. The realization that the whispered rumours from her youth were true was a bitter taste. Despite her mother’s entreaties that nothing had changed, for Maggie, she felt that the opposite was true. Her mother hiding this fundamental truth from her has affected Maggie and strained the relationship presently, and she still hasn’t come to terms with it fully.

1884 was a year of new and unexpected experiences for Maggie. She stumbled across Lady Aisling Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Dartmouth in a field when the latter had a carriage mishap. The two young girls discarded social barriers for a while to talk of horses and art. Maggie left the encounter with a painting and a request to 'call if you're next in London.' from the young heiress.

Later she had her fortune told in the East End by a 'spirit guide' Miss Clarabelle who enabled Maggie to 'speak' to her deceased father. She also made the acquaintance of the handsome, if grotty, rat catcher John Doe, who came to her employer's residence to do a job. Maggie took it upon herself to wash his clothes in a spontaneous, if not scandalous, act of charity.

In 1885, Maggie also caught the eye of fledgling artist Orlando Swinburne who has been quite taken by Maggie's picturesque qualities, going so far as to sketch her image for use in a future work of art. Swinburne introduced Maggie to a fellow lover of art, Lady Cicilia Beauchamp, Dowager Baroness Hastings. The Baroness was charmed by Maggie's personality and eventually offered her a job as her lady's Maid, good help being so hard to find.

1886 did not slow down for Maggie either, with the girl being run ragged learning the ropes of her new role. After a year or so in the service to the Baroness, a series of unfortunate events occurred that abruptly ended Maggie’s service to the Baroness, yet she was able to recover and obtained employment with the Duchess of Devonshire.

By the autumn of 1887 Maggie found herself homesick and seasick in the middle of the Atlantic having inherited none of her father’s sea-legs. She returned to England to an unexpected letter.