Where was the crime writer Ngaio Marsh born?

Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was a prolific writer of "whodunnit" fiction and became known as one of the "Queens of Crime", along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Margery Allingham. The name Ngaio is the name of a flowering tree in the Maori language and can be translated as “light on the water” or “little tree bug.”

Ngaio Marsh was born on 23 April 1895 in Christchurch New Zealand, the only child of Rose and Henry Marsh. Henry Marsh worked as a bank clerk and the family was not wealthy. Ngaio was educated at St Margaret's College in Christchurch, and then studied painting at the Canterbury College (New Zealand) School of Art before joining the Allan Wilkie company as an actress in 1916 and touring New Zealand.

From 1928 she divided her time between living in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In London, she began writing syndicated articles that were published back in New Zealand. In addition, she and one of the friends that she came to London with decided to open a Knightsbridge shop that sold items such as decorated trays, bowls, and lampshades. During this time, she wrote her first book, “A Man Lay Dead” (1934), the work that introduced the character for which she became famous, the Eton-and-Oxford educated police inspector, Roderick Alleyn. Thirty-one more Alleyn novels followed, the last being “Light Thickens” (1982).

Ngaio Marsh died in Christchurch, New Zealand on 18 February 1982.