Margaret M RobertsonMargaret Murray Robertson (22 April 1823 - 14 February 1897) was a Scottish-Canadian teacher and writer. Margaret was born in Stuart field, Scotland, 22 April 1823, the daughter of Reverend James Robertson, Congregational minister. In 1864, she won te Galt Prize essay competition with an essay titled "An Essay on Common School Education." At the age of 42, Margaret left her teaching career to become a full-time writer. Her first novel, Christie Redfern's Troubles, was published in 1866. During her writing career, she had 14 or more novels published up through 1890. Most of the protagonists in her novels were female, and the themes were of home and family. According to a contemporary, Robertson was a brilliant conversationalist, intelligent and highly regarded by her acquaintances. She was neither demonstrative nor emotional. Although, as a teacher, she was devoted to her pupils, she never called a student by a pet name; instead, she looked to the intellect. Correspondingly, her students revered rather than loved her. Except when writing, she knitted constantly - "not fancy knitting, but plain, useful stockings," which she gave to poor boys. In one winter she knitted 96 pairs. To the end she retained a strong modesty about her novels despite their popularity, and she lived so quietly in Montreal that her death and private funeral, in February 1897, nearly passed unnoticed. Read More Read Less