Her uncle and de facto guardian, John Walsh, left his fortune to her first born son.

Her mother, Elizabeth, died in 1760, when she was a child and her father, Joseph Fowke, lost interest.

She had problems with some of these homes and she was reportedly made mentally ill.[2] Her elder brother went to school, but she was left to educate herself in the libraries of the Clives, the Stracheys and her guardians.

[3] She was described as large, not a beauty, but she was strong willed and she refused to be controlled by her natural father and was said to be interesting to talk to.

Her husband had worked as assistant to her brother Francis Fowke where he had been the East India Company's Resident in Benares.

Margaret kept a diary and her son also wrote about the pleasure that she and her husband obtained from living and improving Warfield.

[2] The many letters that she wrote to friends in England provide a valuable insight into the life and dress of European women in India.