Power was born on 6 January 1870 at Mount Joy (now known as Balvaird), on the outskirts of
Campbell Town,
Tasmania, Australia. She was named for her great aunt,
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington. On her
paternal side, she was the granddaughter of the
British Army officer
Surveyor General of Tasmania,
Robert Power, who was born in Ireland. Power grew up in Campbell Town, receiving little formal education, but learned to read in her fathers library and studied the
French and
Italian languages as a teenager. == References ==