Educated in the Bathurst area, including at the Sisters of St Joseph school at Perthville, Margaret was a lively and free-spirited thinker from an early age, which lead to some disagreements with those teachers who had more traditional viewpoints.

While she would have liked to stay on, she left school at 15.

Travelling overseas with friends when she was only 20, Margaret spent most of her time in the United Kingdom. Reflecting her politics, she worked whilst there for a Labor member of the British Parliament.

After returning to Australia, Margaret worked for a time in Bathurst, where she met her future husband Ken. They married in 1959, and eventually ended up in Mudgee, where they had two children, Andrew and Angus. Because of Ken's job, the family moved several times, arriving in Armidale in 1972.

Margaret and Ken lived in Armidale for almost 40 years. In the mid 1970's, Margaret decided to complete her high school education, earning her Higher School Certificate as a mature student and completing a tertiary qualification in education.

For the next 20 years, Margaret taught innumerable students at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges, mostly at Armidale but also towards the end of her career as a Departmental Head at Muswellbrook.

Active in the Armidale community, Margaret chaired the Friends of Armidale Library for some time, a group that made a big contribution to expanding the library and moving it to its current location.

Margaret enjoyed mixing with people through her regular golf and bridge days. She was also active as a staunch Labor Party volunteer during the 1970s and 1980s, and had strong views on politics right through her life. She also loved experiencing other cultures through international travel into her eighties.

In 2011, Margaret and Ken moved to Canberra to be nearer to their family.

Whilst she missed many of her friends from Armidale, this move also allowed her to see more of her old friends that had moved from Armidale to the Southern Highlands and South Coast.

Margaret passed away peacefully on June 15, 2022 and was remembered by friends and family in a celebration of her life held on 23 June. She is survived by Ken and her sons Andrew and Angus.

Margaret's ashes will be interred in Armidale cemetery near her own mother Hazel who passed away in Armidale in April 2000.