About Margaret Jarvie
Lived 1928 – 2004 (aged 76). Margaret Jarvie was a sociologist.
Margaret Jarvie (née Bolton; 20 January 1928 – 15 April 2004) was a Scottish swimmer and counsellor. She taught at the University of Edinburgh's Moray House.
Biography Jarvie was born on 20 January 1928 in Motherwell, to fishmongers Kate Wardrope and John Bolton. She was married to engineer David Gray Jarvie, with whom she had two sons, Colin and Grant. She lived in Corstorphine for a number of years.
Swimming career Jarvie was one of only two women to win all Scottish swimming championship titles from 50 to 1,000 yards, and swam with Motherwell Ladies' Relay Team. She broke the Scottish breaststroke record in 1945, and held the Scottish senior titles from 1944 to 1948. Along with her husband David Jarvie, she was part of an aquatic team that won 172 Scottish and 47 British records between 1936 and 1960.
In 1955, Jarvie signed up for a counselling training scheme and went on to become the youngest marriage guidance counsellor in Scotland and one of the Scottish Marriage Guidance Council's first educational tutors. She became very interested in how schools handled guidance counselling, and went on to study sociology at the University of Edinburgh because she "thought educators would listen more" if she was a teacher.
In his book The Persons in Relation Perspective: In Counselling, Psychotherapy and Community Adult Learning, author Colin Kirkwood acknowledges the influence of Jarvie, in particular through her involvement in the Gorbals Group and the Iona Community, where Jarvie and her husband worked together on the Rowen Engineering project.
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Important facts
People in Margaret Jarvie's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Margaret Jarvie?
Scottish swimmer & counsellor (1928-2004)
When was Margaret Jarvie born?
Margaret Jarvie was born on 20 January 1928.
When did Margaret Jarvie die?
Margaret Jarvie died on 15 April 2004.
What was Margaret Jarvie's occupation?
Margaret Jarvie was a sociologist.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Margaret Jarvie. https://biography.guide/margaret-jarvie/
MLA: "Margaret Jarvie." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/margaret-jarvie/.
Chicago: "Margaret Jarvie." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/margaret-jarvie/.
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