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Margaret Mingay
Margaret Mingay Phillips, a Queenslander, descended from pioneering old families. Both grandfathers were sea captains whose ships regularly sailed the east coast of Australia. Her ...view moreMargaret Mingay Phillips, a Queenslander, descended from pioneering old families. Both grandfathers were sea captains whose ships regularly sailed the east coast of Australia. Her paternal grandmother, Annie Mingay, became the first white woman to settle in Cooktown, Queensland, in the 1800s, having to wear a firearm when venturing off the property. Her maternal grandmother’s husband, Richard Phillips, died on board his ship; Elizabeth eventually remarried and lived on a cattle station with Margaret’s mother, Grace Phillips.
After her parents’ divorce, Margaret (12) attended boarding schools, where she found the opportunity to pursue her love of books and writing. She married and moved from Brisbane to Perth, where her husband set up a business. Divorced with three young children and no relatives in Perth, she found solace in writing. Acquiring a diploma in Professional Romance Writing from the Australian College of Journalism, she used her novel Outback Conflict for some of the lessons, receiving praise from her tutor.
She met her second husband — Gary Phillips, life member of the 4WD Club of WA — when she bought a new Toyota Land Cruiser. They travelled extensively in Australia’s vast outback, Margaret always writing with a portable typewriter Gary installed in front of her in the Land Cruiser. She wrote several short stories, published in magazines and a book.
Becoming editor and secretary to 4WD Club organisations kept her busy. She joined the Australian Society of Authors and Fellowship of Australian Writers. She wrote a comedy, Travelling with the Dog, for The Four-Wheel Driver’s Guide, plus ‘A Wisp of Fate’, published in a book of short stories.
When Gary retired from his four-wheel-driving instruction business, their love of travelling Australia continued. Margaret wrote her second novel, a romance set in Australia and England, where the wild coast of Cornwall inspired her.view less