- Margaret Durrell
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Margaret ('Margo') Isabel Mabel Durrell (1920-2007) was the younger sister of novelist Lawrence Durrell, and elder sister of naturalist, author and TV presenter Gerald Durrell, whose Corfu Trilogy of novels — My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and Garden of the Gods — lampoons her character variously.
Born in British India, she was brought up in India, England and Corfu. In 1935, Margo went with her mother, Gerald and Leslie to live on Corfu, following after her eldest brother Lawrence, who had moved there with his first wife, Nancy Myers. By 1939, when her mother returned to England with Gerald and Leslie following the outbreak of World War II, Margo decided her real home was on Corfu and returned. She shared a peasant cottage with some local friends. In 1939, she met a British Royal Air Force pilot, Jack Breeze, stationed on Corfu. He convinced her of the dangers of staying on Corfu, and left with her to South Africa; the pair married in 1940. Margo lived with Breeze in South Africa for the remainder of the war. When the war ended, Margo and her husband moved to Bournemouth. Margo and Jack Breeze had two children, Gerry (named after Gerald Durrell) and Nicholas.
After divorcing her first husband, Margo purchased a large house across the street from her mother's house in Bournemouth, and after refurbishing it, she opened a boarding house there. Gerald Durrell's core collection for his zoo (now the Jersey Zoo) was initially housed on the premises of her boarding house. Margo eventually remarried, her new husband's name being Malcolm Duncan.
Margo considered herself Greek, and worked for a while on a Greek cruise ship.[1]
Margaret Durrell was the author of Whatever Happened to Margo?, a reprise on her pet name used in the Corfu Trilogy. The book is the tale of Margo's adventures as a Bournemouth landlady in the late 1940s. Written in a humorous style, it includes references to the rest of the Durrell family, particularly Leslie, Gerald and Louisa Durrell. Apparently written in the 1960s, it was discovered in the attic by a granddaughter nearly 40 years later and published in 1995.[2]
Margaret died aged 87 on 16 January, 2007.[3]
Bibliography
- Whatever Happened to Margo? (1996, ISBN 0-233-98917-X)
References
- ^ Margaret Durrell Remembers, in Lawrence Durrell and the Greek World, Edited by Anna Lilios
- ^ Robin Balke, Paperback reviews, The Independent, October 13, 1996
- ^ thisisjersey.com obituary
The life and times of Gerald Durrell Institutions associated with Co-conservationists Expeditions undertaken Argentina · Australia · Belize · Bhutan · Cameroon · India · Madagascar · Malaysia · Mauritius · Mexico · New Zealand · Paraguay · Russia · Sierra LeoneSpecies associations Aye-Aye · Gorilla · Mauritius Kestrel · Pink Pigeon · Pigmy Hog · Rockfowl · St. Lucia Parrot · Volcano RabbitBooks authored The Overloaded Ark · Three Singles to Adventure · The Bafut Beagles · The New Noah · The Drunken Forest · My Family and Other Animals · Encounters with Animals · A Zoo in My Luggage · The Whispering Land · Island Zoo · A Look at Zoos · Menagerie Manor · Two in the Bush · The Donkey Rustlers · Rosy is My Relative · Birds, Beasts, and Relatives · Fillets of Plaice · Catch Me a Colobus · Beasts in My Belfry · The Talking Parcel · The Stationary Ark · Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons · The Garden of the Gods · The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium · The Mockery Bird · Ark on the Move · The Amateur Naturalist · How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist · Durrell in Russia · The Fantastic Flying Journey · The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure · The Ark's Anniversary · Keeper · Toby the Tortoise · Marrying Off Mother and Other Stories · The Aye-Aye and I · Puppy Tales · The Best of Gerald DurrellIllustrators Famous TV series Two in the Bush · Catch Me a Colobus · The Garden of the Gods · The Stationary Ark · Ark on the Move · The Amateur Naturalist · Ourselves and Other Animals · Durrell in RussiaNotable others Categories:- Gerald Durrell
- English memoirists
- 1920 births
- 2007 deaths
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