Contrary to current popular opinion, this woman remains a heroine of mine.
(Margaret is the younger)
Just like Jan Smuts of South Africa, she was a relentless worker.
Unlike Jan Smuts she was an engaging person who got on well with her peers. Her parents were strictly religious and socially responsible. Her father was an important figure in her life. He was a Rotarian and intensively involved in his community. Alfred Roberts was married to Beatrice and they had two daughters, Muriel (born in 1921, just like my own father) and of course Margaret, born 4 years later in 1925. They lived in Grantham and he was a grocer. The daughters grew up in Britain in World War Two. It was a time of austerity.
Margaret was an intelligent girl, who enhanced her talents through hard study. She was a bit plump (poor girls always seem to be affected by their figures; never good enough). She had a lovely personality and enjoyed socialising. She always wanted to be well dressed and she did a great deal of planning on how to maximize the value of every penny.
Margaret seemed to not get on too well with her mother; I suppose the excessive prudence with finance of her mom may have been the underlying cause. Yet upon reflection in her later life, she realised just how much her mother had influenced her in all her underlying values. How often this seems to be the case with many young women, struggling to be free of their mothers and gain their own independence.
Her father, Alfred, had the most influence with his intelligent daughter, Margaret. His values could be based on what is called "old fashioned Liberalism". We can define that as roughly "individual responsibility" and "financial responsibility". She seemed to always have these values too as underlying.
It must be remembered that society was a male bastion when she was growing up. She did elocution lessons when growing up, those lessons removed a possible lisp and definitely any local accent. Many people (her opponents) in later life felt that her speech patterns were artificial. However I must say as a South African, whenever I heard her speaking on television, I was enchanted by her language.
Last night, I started reading the first volume by her official biographer and I could not put it down. Reluctantly, after midnight, I forced myself to put the light off.
I shall share what made one of the most influencial women of the Twentieth Century "tick" in future blogs.
Love her or hate her, she was a true LEADER.