Margery Louise Allingham (1904-1966) was born in London and attended The Perse High School for Girls in Cambridge, before returning to London and the Polytechnic for Speech-Training. Her father was the author, H. J. Allingham, editor of the Christian Globe and The New London Journal, to which she contributed articles and Sexton Blake stories. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... A father is traditionally the male parent of a child. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who has appeared in many British comic strips and novels. ...

Her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick, was published in 1923 at age 19. It was allegedly based on a story she heard during a séance, though later in life this was debunked by her husband. Nevertheless, Allingham continued to have a thread of the occult in many novels. Blackkerchief Dick was well received, but was not a financial success. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The word occult comes from Latin occultus (hidden), referring to the knowledge of the secret or knowledge of the hidden and often meaning knowledge of the supernatural, as opposed to knowledge of the visible or knowledge of the measurable, usually referred to as science. ...

Her first work of detective fiction was a serialized story published by the Daily Express in 1927. Entitled The White Cottage Mystery, the themes were atypical for a woman writer of the era. Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... The Daily Express is a conservative, middle-market British newspaper, currently tabloid, and it is owned by Express Newspapers, which is currently owned by Richard Desmond. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1928, she married Philip Youngman Carter, who collaborated with her and designed the jackets for many of her books. They lived on the edge of the Essex Marshes. 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Her breakthrough occurred in 1929 with the publication of The Crime at Black Dudley. This introduced Albert Campion, albeit originally as a minor character. Campion proved so popular and successful that Allingham made him the centerpiece of another 16 novels and over 20 short stories, continuing into the 1960's. 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Crime at the Black Dudley is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in 1929, in the United Kingdom by Jarrolds, London and in the United States by Doubleday Doran, New York. ... Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. ...

Campion is a mysterious upper-class character (played on television by Peter Davison) that floats between the upper echelons of nobility and government and the shady world of England's criminal class. Peter Davison (born April 13, 1951) is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriots All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984. ...

Allingham continued to write in other forms, publishing plays, novellas, and dozens of non-Campion short stories, but these are largely ignored today.

She died in 1966 of cancer. Her final Campion novel, A Cargo of Eagles it was completed by her husband, as her final request and published in 1968. Other compilations of her work, both with and without Albert Campion, continued to be released until the 1970's. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

External link

• The Margery Allingham Society