Margaret Benn Walsh

Margaret, Lady Walsh or Margaret Benn born Margaret Fowke (13 July 1758 – 29 September 1836) was a British collector of Indian songs. Her uncle and de facto guardian, John Walsh, left his fortune to her first born son. She lived at Warfield Park until her son Baron Ormathwaite took over the house.

Life She was born in 1758 and baptised in London. Her mother, Elizabeth, died in 1760, when she was a child and her father, Joseph Fowke, lost interest. He was a successful diamond trader employed by the East India Company. Margaret's godmother was Margaret Maskelyne, Lady Clive. Her mother's uncle, John Walsh, became her de facto parent. Her new guardian's interest at this point appears to have only been financial and he arranged for others to care for her. She had problems with some of these homes and she was reportedly made mentally ill.

She was intrigued by what she called "the Hindostannie air". These were Indian melodies represented for the British ear. She would organise Indian musicians and arrange for the music and words to be written down. She tried to play the music herself she recorded some of the music herself and arranged a concert for Warren Hastings.

She returned to England on the Dublin with John Benn and they were married just after they landed in 1787. Her husband had worked as assistant to her brother Francis Fowke where he had been the East India Company's Resident in Benares.

In 1795 her erstwhile guardian John Walsh died and left his estate to her. Although she had married John Benn in 1786 and he had a fortune of £80,000. They changed their names to Walsh to acknowledge the Walsh inheritance. They already had a daughter and when they had a son in 1798 he was named John Walsh. Her husband became an M.P. and a baronet and her son would be Baron Ormathwaite.

She lived at various less-grand locations after she left Warfield Park to her son's family.

Death and legacy Walsh died in Binfield Park, a widow, in 1836. The many letters that she wrote to friends in England provide a valuable insight into the life and dress of European women in India. Her portrait by Frederick Yeates Hurlstone is in the National Library of Wales.