Marjorie Grace Patricia Bridget Owen

 

Marjorie was born on September 11th 1911 in England and endured the bombardment of World War II. As far as we know, she was born out-of-wedlock with an Irish Lord for a father and a Russian princess as her mother. Although her life before working is somewhat sketchy, her career, as a major London department store clothing buyer, was long and interesting. Members of the Royal family were amongst some of her more famous clients.

 

Marjorie found time to write many short stories and four novels ranging from romance to mystery. She did not attempt to publish any of her writings. We can only surmise that she wrote for the joy and did not wish to seek any recognition or fame.

 

Marjorie lived in the town of Burgess Hill in the county of Sussex, England referred to in the book as Burshill. The first murder took place in what could well have been St. Johns Park. This was an area in front of the apartment, above the local Post Office, in which she lived for many years.

 

She had no hot water in the apartment and had to wash herself in the ground floor kitchen before the Post Office staff arrived for work. With no heating, she relied on a coal fire to keep warm in the cold and drafty winter months. This forced her to carry buckets of coal up the stairs until her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren talked her into moving to an assisted living facility in the same town.

 

The town of Burgess Hill dates back to 1342 and a Roman road passed through the town as a link from London, in the north, to Brighton and Hove on the south coast. There is no evidence that the Romans spent any time in Burgess Hill.

 

When Marjorie worked in department stores in London, she would walk to the railway station and catch a train to Victoria Station. She did this in all weathers and the road she walked was sometimes covered in snow.

 

She actually changed her birth certificate from 1911 to 1917 so that she could continue to work for an additional six years after her retirement age of 60.

 

After a very full life, Marjorie passed away on March 28th 2004, at the age of ninety-three.

 

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