Margaret's father died on 4 June 1737 at Dunster,[4] at which time he was in debt, "due in part to his personal extravagance and in part to the necessity imposed upon him by his parents of providing a fortune of £10,000 for Anne Luttrell," daughter of his deceased brother Francis Luttrell (1709–1732) of Venn, Somerset, and wife of Edmund Morton Pleydell, 1734-1794.

[4] On 16 February 1747, when she came of age, in Kingston St Mary Church[7][6] she married her second cousin Henry Fownes (d.1780) of Nethway House, Kingswear[8] (historically in Brixham[9]), Devon.

Both shared as a great-grandfather Edward Yard (1638–1703) of Churston Ferrers, MP for Ashburton in 1685, who himself was a grandson of Thomas Fownes (d.1635), Mayor of Plymouth in 1619.

[2] They moved into Dunster Castle and updated the interior with Chinese painted wallpaper and new furniture in a Rococo style.

[7] The marriage was a happy one and resulted in the birth of ten children,[6] including: After her death John married Priscilla Aston and they had three sons and a daughter.