# Margaret Lane

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{{Short description|British journalist, biographer and novelist (1907–1994)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox writer
|name=Margaret Lane
|image=Margaret Lane.jpg
|caption=Lane in 1935
|birth_date={{birth date|1907|6|23|df=y}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1994|2|14|1907|6|23|df=y}}
|death_place=[Southampton](/source/Southampton), [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire), England
|occupation={{flatlist|
*Journalist
*biographer
*novelist
}}
|nationality=British
|alma_mater=[St Stephen's College, Broadstairs](/source/St_Stephen's_College%2C_Broadstairs)<br>[St Hugh's College, Oxford](/source/St_Hugh's_College%2C_Oxford)
|spouse={{marriage|Bryan Wallace|1934|1939|end}}<br>{{marriage|[Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon](/source/Francis_Hastings%2C_16th_Earl_of_Huntingdon)|1944|1990|end=d}}
|children=2, including [Selina](/source/Selina_Hastings_(writer))
|parents=Harry George Lane<br>Edith Webb
}}
[[File:Memorial to John Francis Clarence Westenra Plantagenet Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon.jpg|thumb|Memorial in [St Helen's Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch](/source/St_Helen's_Church%2C_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. She was the second wife of [Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon](/source/Francis_Hastings%2C_16th_Earl_of_Huntingdon).

==Early life==
Margaret Lane was born on 23 June 1907, the only child of Edith (née Webb), daughter of a glass dealer, and Harry George Lane, a newspaper editor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|date=2004-09-23|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55086|pages=ref:odnb/55086|editor-last=Matthew|editor-first=H. C. G.|place=Oxford|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55086|access-date=2021-09-12|editor2-last=Harrison|editor2-first=B.}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/21/obituaries/margaret-lane-86-british-writer-on-beatrix-potter-and-the-brontes.html|title=Margaret Lane, 86, British Writer On Beatrix Potter and the Brontes|first= Eric|last= Pace|date=21 February 1994|website=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|accessdate=29 November 2017}}</ref> She was educated at [St Stephen's College](/source/St._Stephen's_College_(Broadstairs)) (sisters of St John Baptist)<!-- previous detail not mentioned in the NYT source. --> and [St Hugh's College, Oxford](/source/St_Hugh's_College%2C_Oxford).<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

==Career==
After university, she worked as a reporter for the ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)'', from 1928 to 1931, and then as a special correspondent for the [International News Service](/source/International_News_Service) from 1931 to 1932, while there she interviewed the gangster [Al Capone](/source/Al_Capone). From 1932 to 1938, she was a journalist for the ''[Daily Mail](/source/Daily_Mail),'' where she was the UK's highest-paid woman journalist.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Jenkins">{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Elizabeth|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-margaret-lane-1394635.html|title=Obituary: Margaret Lane|work=The Independent|date=17 February 1994|accessdate=29 November 2017}}</ref>

Lane wrote two biographies of [Beatrix Potter](/source/Beatrix_Potter), ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter: a Biography'' in 1946, and ''The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter'' in 1978. In 1984, the [BBC](/source/BBC) produced a two-part television dramatisation of Potter's life based on Lane's books, ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter'' with [Penelope Wilton](/source/Penelope_Wilton) in the lead role, that was "praised as a simple yet intense story with just the right touches of unflinching reserve."<ref name="nytimes.com" /> Lane also wrote books about the [Brontë sisters](/source/Bront%C3%AB) (1953) and [Samuel Johnson](/source/Samuel_Johnson) (1975).<ref name="nytimes.com" /><ref name="Jenkins"/> 

In all, Lane wrote more than two dozen books, including novels, travelogues and children's books.<ref name="nytimes.com" /> Her trilogy about expats in Tangiers - ''A Night at Sea'', ''A Smell of Burning'' and ''The Day of the Feast'' - was highly praised by [Colin Wilson](/source/Colin_Wilson) and others.<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/margaret-lane/a-night-at-sea/ ''A Night at Sea'', Kirkus Reviews]</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1934, she married Bryan Wallace, a film screenwriter and son of the writer [Edgar Wallace](/source/Edgar_Wallace). Their marriage was dissolved in 1939. Lane's biography of Edgar Wallace was published in 1938.<ref name="Jenkins"/>

On 1 February 1944, she married [Francis Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon](/source/Francis_Hastings%2C_16th_Earl_of_Huntingdon) (1901–1990), who had divorced his first wife Cristina (who then married [Wogan Philipps, 2nd Baron Milford](/source/Wogan_Philipps%2C_2nd_Baron_Milford)) the previous year.<ref name="Jenkins"/> They had two daughters, the writer [Selina Hastings](/source/Selina_Hastings_(writer)) (Lady Selina Shirley Hastings, born 1945), and Lady Caroline Harriet Hastings (born 1946).<ref name="Jenkins"/>

She died in [Southampton](/source/Southampton) on 14 February 1994.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Jenkins"/>

==Selected publications==
* ''Faith, Hope, No Charity'' (1935)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''At Last, the Island'' (1937)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Edgar Wallace, the Biography of a Phenomenon'' (1938)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Walk Into My Parlour'' (1941)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Where Helen Lies'' (1944)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter: a Biography'' (1946)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''The Brontë Story'' (1953)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''A Crown of Convolvulus'' (1954)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''A Calabash of Diamonds'' (1961)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Life With Ionides'' (1963)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''A Night at Sea'' (1965)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''A Smell of Burning'' (1966)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Purely for Pleasure'' (1966)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''The Day of the Feast'' (1968)<ref name="nytimes.com" />
* ''Samuel Johnson and His World'' (1975)<ref name="nytimes.com" /> 
* ''The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter'' (1978)<ref name="nytimes.com" />

==References==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{OL author|OL1035876A}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Margaret}}
Category:1907 births
Category:1994 deaths
Category:20th-century British journalists
Category:British biographers
Huntingdon
Category:Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford
Category:British children's writers
Category:British women biographers
Category:20th-century English nobility
Category:Member of the Women's Press Club, London
Category:20th-century British women novelists
Category:20th-century British women journalists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Margaret Lane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Lane) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Lane?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.