Surname: Gardiner Forename(s): Marguerite b. 1 September 1789. d. 4 June 1849. Nationality: Irish. VIAF.
Author, poet, editor, and salon hostess. Née “Power.” Aunt of writers Marguerite Agnes
Power and Ellen Power. Became editor of The Keepsake in 1841. Forced by her parents to marry Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer when she
was fourteen, but their relationship ended after her husband moved to India. Married
Charles John Gardiner (1st earl of Blessington) on 16 February 1818, following her
husband’s death. Closely connected with major literary figures including Thomas Moore,
Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and William Jerdan. Close friends with Lord
Byron, a friendship she documented in Journal of Conversations with Lord Byron and first published in instalments in the New Monthly (1832-1833). Biographical information: ODNB. (SP, AC)