Margaret Keswick Jencks (10 October 1941 – 8 July 1995) was a Scottish writer, artist and garden designer who co-founded

Maggie's Centres Maggie's centres are a network of drop-in centres across the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, which aim to help anyone who has been affected by cancer. They are not intended as a replacement for conventional cancer therapy, but as a caring enviro ...

with her husband

Charles Jencks Charles Alexander Jencks (21 June 1939 – 13 October 2019) was an American cultural theorist, landscape designer, architectural historian, and co-founder of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. He published over thirty books and became famous i ...

Early life

Margaret Keswick was born at Cowhill Tower near Holywood in the county of

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

in Scotland the only child of Sir John Keswick and Clare Elwes. Maggie's father was taipan of

Jardine Matheson Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong-based Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange and ...

, the influential Scottish–Chinese trading company. The family spent time in Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as the UK. Keswick was educated in England and read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. After working in fashion, she studied at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

in London''.''

Garden design and collaborations

One of Maggie Jencks's main interests was in garden design. In 1978 she published ''The Chinese Garden: History, Art and Architecture.'' She collaborated with her husband on the design of the gardens at Portrack, their family home near Dumfries, Scotland, and on extensive alterations to the house's interior. Another major collaboration was couple's famous house in Notting Hill, London - open to the public from 2021 as the Cosmic House - designed with the architect Terry Farrell. Her other garden designs included one inspired by the pastoral poems of John Milton for the Jencks' house in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

; a collaboration with the American architect Frank Gehry on the Lewis House at

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio, where fibre-optics and running water created a highly original landscape; and a garden for the film director

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

Career and legacy

In 1978, she married as his second wife,

, writer and landscape artist, with whom she founded the first

in Edinburgh, which opened in 1996. A bust of Jencks is on display in the Hall of Heroes of the National Wallace Monument in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jencks, Maggie Keswick 1941 births 1995 deaths 20th-century British philanthropists 20th-century Scottish women artists 20th-century Scottish women writers Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British landscape and garden designers Deaths from cancer in England Maggie People from Dumfries and Galloway Scottish philanthropists