Margaret Benson

Margaret Benson (16 June 1865 – 13 May 1916) was an English author and Egyptologist best known for her excavation of the Precinct of Mut, a temple compound on the east bank of the Nile.

Early life and family Margaret was born in 1865 near Reading, Berkshire, England, as one of the six children of Edward White Benson, an Anglican educator and clergyman (later Archbishop of Canterbury), and his wife Mary Sidgwick Benson, sister of philosopher Henry Sidgwick who co-founded Newnham College, a women-only college of the University of Cambridge. Margaret attended Truro Girls High School, which her father had founded while the first bishop of Truro. At the age of 18, Margaret was one of the first women to be admitted to Oxford University, where she attended the recently founded Lady Margaret Hall. Her intelligence and accomplishments were remarkable, as noted by her tutors, and John Ruskin praised her drawing and watercolour skills, inviting her to study at his school.

Of Margaret's five siblings, her brothers included novelist Edward Frederic Benson, poet and master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, Arthur Christopher Benson, and Catholic priest and author Robert Hugh Benson. None of the Benson siblings married, and at least three of them, Arthur, Fred, and Margaret, were likely homosexual. Margaret's mother, Mary Benson, was also involved in homosexual relationships.

The 1895 season had a crew of 23 men and boys. This season saw the excavations of the west half first court as well as the fixing of errors on existing maps. During this season, eight statues of Sekhmet and a block statue of Amenemhet, scribe of Amenhotep II, as well as other smaller objects such as coins, beads, and pots, were discovered.

The 1897 season saw the discovery of two statues of Mentuemhat on the first day before Margaret could arrive to the excavation site. This season saw three trenches dug for excavation, with discoveries including a statue of a sphinx, fifteen inscribed statues, pieces of clay pots, and coins dating to the time of Nero. One of the most well known figures recovered by Gourlay and Benson was the head of a figure, now in the British Museum, commonly referred to as the Benson Head.

She was unable to continue excavating following this season due to numerous health issues.

After meeting Janet Gourlay in 1896 during the excavations in Egypt, the two began working together. Although they are often described as 'friends', it is evident from their written communication that there was more to their relationship: Margaret also developed pleurisy around this same time, and in 1900 she had a heart attack. She suffered a severe mental breakdown in 1907, and was treated first in an asylum at St George's Convent, Wivelsfield, Sussex, and from November 1907 to 1912, at the Priory Hospital in Roehampton.