Introduction / Margaret Gray and Thomas Reid / Lilians Stobie Reid and John Wallace

Margaret Wallace

Margaret, the oldest daughter of John Bryden Wallace and Lilias Stobie Reid, was born on Eday 23 December 1863. She spent most of her childhood in Eday, except for a short period when her family lived in Walls Parish, Shetland, her father's home. Following the death of her father in 1875, the rest of the family returned to Eday. By 1881, 17 year-old Margaret was a farm servant on the island of Shapinsay. In about 1885 she went to Glasgow to care for the children of her recently widowed uncle, Henry Wallace, a banker. Margaret later went to the Transval in South Africa where she ran a laundry. It is not known how long she remained there, but she eventually returned to Eday to look after her elderly mother. Margaret also had a long life; she died in about 1960.