Margery Allingham

Chris Willis (London Metropolitan University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 20 May 1904
Died 30 Jun 1966
Activity 1924-1966

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Genres and Modes

Crime and Detective

Activities

Primary

Prose writer

Resources

Allingham's Works

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Margery Allingham was one of the four Golden Age “Queens of Crime” – the others being Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. She is chiefly remembered as the creator of Albert Campion, hero of numerous detective novels and short stories.

Born 20 May 1904 in the London suburb of Ealing, Margery was the daughter of writers Herbert and Emily Allingham. She later described the Allinghams as “a family which sincerely believed that writing was the only reasonable way of passing one’s life.” Margery had her first story published at the age of eight, in a cinema magazine edited by her aunt, Maud Hughes. Her first novel, a historical adventure entitled Blackkerchief Dick was published when she was 19. She claimed that it was inspired by supernatural messages given to her at

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969 words

Citation: Willis, Chris. "Margery Allingham". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=90, accessed 27 November 2024.]