Margaret Howe was nearly thirty when she married Arthur Holmes at Gateshead United Methodist Church on Tuesday the 14th of July, 1914. The daughter of one of the famous Howe Brothers, a printing firm started very modestly by her grandfather in 1863 which had grown to be one of the biggest employers in Gateshead, Maggie was the youngest of three children. Her father, a master printer, was now comfortably retired but Maggie still lived with her parents in their fine Victorian house in Saltwell View, Gateshead, overlooking the park. Her brother and sister had both married and moved away so it fell to Maggie to stay at home and look after her parents.

It is unclear how the relationship arose, Arthur being five years Maggie's junior, but he wrote to her from Mozambique so they must have known each other for some time previously. Having been ‘squashed’ by Edie it appears Arthur's attentions turned to Maggie on his return from Mozambique. In a letter to Edward Wayland dated 8th October 1912, he shed some light on the subject:

I had, as a matter of fact, wanted a girl at home for a considerable time but … someone else appeared to be in the field. Fortunately he was unsuccessful, for the girl also wanted me but was under the impression that I was not available.