her shingled hair and hatred of lace curtains to her espousal of modern art, European outlook, and commitment to social justice (C. R. W. Nevinson, 6). In 1901 the Nevinsons bought a house in Downside Crescent, Haverstock Hill, where Margaret lived for the rest of her life. By now Margaret and Henry's lives were running along separate grooves, not least because of the latter's night newspaper work. Henry also became a war correspondent so was frequently away for months. The marriage suffered though they never formally separated. Employment and activism Margaret was a school manager for 25 years, initially for the London School Board in the East End, then for London County Council (north St Pancras). In 1904 she became a Hampstead poor-law guardian, determined to root out inefficiency and expose anomalies, particularly where they affected poor women. Her greatest contribution was probably not so much through the weekly meetings she attended so regularly as in publicizing the problems of the poor law. She did this through talks to women's suffrage groups, articles, and stories. In 1918 she published twenty-six tales known as Workhouse Characters. These included one story which had earlier been turned into a one-act play called In the Workhouse. Gender-specific legislation discriminating against married women was increasingly the focus of Margaret's writings whether through pamphlets such as The Legal Wrongs of Women (Women's Freedom League, 1923) or via her thinly disguised autobiographical stories, Fragments of Life (1922). An early trainee in massage, Margaret treated wounded Belgian soldiers during World War I. Although she had refused to speak on behalf of parties or causes other than suffrage prior to gaining the vote, once enfranchised she supported the Liberal Party. She also lectured on the League of Nations and became a vice-president of the Women's Peace Crusade. In 1927 she was elected to the committee of the Society of Women Journalists. Her most significant post-war public service was, however, as a pioneer female justice of the peace. Nominated by the WFL, in June 1920 she became the first woman in London to adjudicate at criminal petty sessions. With her experience and self-confessed 'passion for justice' and "devotion to logic" (M. W. Nevinson, 254), she again played a crucial role in Hampstead's affairs. She also visited the United States to study the American probationary system. In 1921 she was one of three women appointed to the Lord Chancellor's London county