http://www.andrewglockhart.co.uk
http://www.magdagreen.co.uk

Magdalene Greenfield was born in the City of Edinburgh in 1856, third child and eldest daughter of a builder. After finishing her schooling, she went into service in the hotel trade. In mid 1880, she became pregnant by a hotel keeper in the border country.
    Fortunately for Magda, in an age when  such things often resulted in destitution, her father was a man of understanding, and she returned to his house in Leith, Edinburgh to have the baby (whom we shall call Tom). Through her father’s influence  and possibly with the help of her eldest brother, who was a commercial traveller at the time, Tom was formally adopted by a couple  from the Highlands (let’s say Alex and Anna) who had been unable to have children of their own. Tom, as yet unweaned, and Magda went north with the new parents, and Magda took up residence with the family.
    Three years later, in 1884, Anna died of a brain tumour. Magda, who - we must supppose - had become fond of Alex, married him in 1887 at her brother’s home in Edinburgh, and thus became stepmother to her own child. In 1888, Magda and Alex had a daughter together and shortly afterwards moved to Glasgow. Tom died in his teens in 1897 and Alex in 1900.
    Magda lived to the ripe old age of 80. In later life, according to the testimony of those who knew her, she was a lively lady who loved parties. She died in 1937, just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

For more than five years, my publishing imprint, ABK Books, had served well enough. However, I was aware that I was not the only ABK around and began to think about finding a more original and unique name for my publishing efforts.
    I had come across Magda’s story in 2007 while researching my family history. It captured my interest for its simplicity and humanity, and it struck me how different things might have been if Magda had been forced to go down another path , the one that led so many women to the so-called Magdalene Laundries .
    The coincidence of the name  was a story in itself. There have been many attempts by students of alternative histories to link its biblical bearer to the Templar movement . Whatever the truth of that, the district where Magda - and several of my ancestors - grew up is awash with Templar lore.. There were Magdalenes in at least six generations of my family. And two of those came from a place that was once called Temple Liston!
     So ‘Magda Green’ was born - or perhaps I should say reborn - and in 2009 I purchased the domain www.magdagreen.co.uk with the objective of using MagdaGreen as a new imprint.

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