Margaret's career in Trade Unions

Her personal experiences of shop work in Brighton had roused her spirit and she joined the newly formed Shop Assistants, Warehouse Men and Clerks' Union and was its full time assistant. She was soon elected to the Union District Council. So began Margaret's lifelong interest in political organisations and unions. She attended conferences and wrote lively articles in the union magazine, The Shop Assistant, under the pen name of Grace Dare. In 1896, at the young age of 23, Clementina Black of the Women’s Industrial Council asked her to carry out an investigation into the pay and conditions of shop workers which was published in 1898 when Margaret was 25. This was the same year she was appointed secretary of the Shop Assistants Union. Margaret now dedicated herself full time to doing union work. 

In one of her articles in 1898 she created a storm when she described the ideal marriage as one in which both partners went out to work and shared household tasks between them. However, she never married or had a family

The Chard Girl in Politics, a true Reformer

The results of her investigation for Clementia Black were much used by reformers and eventually led to the 1904 Shops Act. 

In 1907 Margaret advised the playwright Cicely Hamilton, whose shop-based drama Diana of Dobsons appeared that same year. Margaret described the opening scene, set in a dreary, comfort-less women's dormitory over a shop, as very like the 'real' thing.

In 1908 she resigned from The Shop Workers Union and became secretary of the Women's Labour League. At this time, she was also active in the Women's Cooperative Guild. They were campaigning on pioneering issues such as minimum wage legislation, child welfare and improving infant mortality. 

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In 1910 the Liberal Government asked her to serve as a member of its Advisory Committee on the health Insurance Bill. Her efforts were rewarded when she persuaded the Government to include maternity benefits.