Who was Ngaio Marsh?
Ngaio Marsh’s mother was a New Zealander and her father came from London. She was born in 1895 as Edith Ngaio Marsh and had aspirations of a theatrical life. She was described as being very tall (5’10”) which might have been one of the factors that contributed to her not becoming a leading lady. Lucky for us that she became a leading mystery author instead! Ngaio Marsh’s Early Life Marsh was an only child and described herself as having been introverted. She was a great lover of books, and her family was very interested in the theater. She went to college to study painting but later found that she was more suited to writing. She joined a theater troupe but had to resign when they went overseas. Ngaio’s mother didn’t think it would be fitting for a single woman to travel without a chaperon. It was then that Marsh focused on her painting, tutoring, and writing plays. She became a regular of high society. (Ngaio Marsh never married nor had children.) Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn I
About the Author Dame Ngaio Marsh was born in New Zealand in 1895 and died in February 1982. She wrote over 30 detective novels and many of her stories have theatrical settings, for Ngaio Marsh’s real passion was the theatre. She was both actress and producer and almost single-handed revived the New Zealand public’s interest in the theatre. It was for this work that the received what she called her ‘damery’ in 1966.
