When the Rector finds an abandoned baby girl on the steps of his church, she is carrying a note saying, “This is Margaret whom I entrust to your care. Each year, £52 will be sent for her keep and schooling”.
Naming her Margaret Thursday – the day on which he discovered her – the Rector sends the child to stay with the well-off Cameron family. But the family’s fortunes have dwindled over the years and the surviving Cameron sisters are now too old to look after Margaret.
When the Rector receives advice from Margaret’s mysterious benefactor that money for her upkeep is no longer available, the girl is sent to stay in an orphanage. Margaret makes herself an enemy of the cruel matron and is soon forced to run away.
Taking with her two small boys – Peter (Simon Gipps-Kent) and Horatio (David Tully) – they become unlikely leggers on a canal boat.
The six episodes of this BBC1 series were aired on Wednesdays between 27 December 1972 and 31 January 1973.
Margaret Thursday Clare Walker Lavinia Beresford
Gillian Bailey Peter Beresford
Simon Gipps-Kent Horatio Beresford
David Tully Miss Snelston
Caroline Harris Matron
Althea Parker Jem
Kit Daniels Susan
Maxine Kalli Miss Jones
Anne Pichon Clara
Jill Riddick Winifred
Cindy O’Callaghan Filbert
Edwin Brown Ma Smith
Susan Field Mrs Tanner
Joy Harington Lady Corkberry
Anne Ridler Captain Smith
Will Stampe Lord Corkberry
Peter Williams
Episodes
Three of Everything | Sedgecombe | I Hate Her | The Crusader | Rain in the Night | Light in the Window
