painter, illustrator and commercial artist, was born in Burwood, Sydney. She was educated at home until she was twelve then went to SCEGGS Redlands, Cremorne. She left school aged sixteen, spent two years at Julian Ashton’s Sydney Art School then worked for the advertising agency of Smith & Julius. Afterwards she freelanced for publications such as the Australian Woman’s Mirror , Home and Sun . She shared a studio with Betty Rogers, another former Ashton student, who modelled for Horder.
Horder worked and saved hard as she wanted to try her fortune in London. She arrived there in 1929 and was fortunate enough to get work with a publicity agent. She began to attend the Westminster Art School, and she obtained commissions to design a group of posters for the Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the Great Southern Railways of England. Horder mixed with various young Australians living in London, including Arthur Freeman, also from Sydney, who had come to England on a Society of Arts’ Travelling Scholarship and was studying at the Royal Academy. They married in 1936. Both enrolled at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts and became interested in printmaking. Arthur was employed as a lithographer with the printers Sun Press, while Margaret began to work for Oxford University Press. She illustrated at least two books a year for Oxford from 1936 until 1952 as well as doing illustrations for other publishers. This continued throughout the war, when Arthur joined the Water Police.
After the war, Australia came vividly to mind when she was offered Nan Chauncy’s They Found a Cave to illustrate. This was a landmark publication, which became a pioneer of modern Australian children’s books. For it, she had to try to remember Australia all over again. It was a challenge she enjoyed, and it may have been partly responsible for the decision to return to Australia. In December 1948 the Freemans arrived back at Sydney.
Although Horder was still illustrating two books a year for Oxford, she began working for Angus & Robertson in Sydney, designing as well as illustrating books. Her first success was Good Luck to the Rider , also the first for its author, Joan Phipson. The book thoroughly justified Angus & Robertson’s faith in Horder, for it was a popular as well as artistic triumph. It began a partnership between author and illustrator which resulted in seven most successful children’s books of high quality, all a pleasure to handle and look at as well as to read, and two of them winners of the Children’s Book of the Year Award. She illustrated five novels by Patricia Wrightson and three by Nan Chauncy with the same care and enthusiasm, enriching them with her thoughtful, interpretative drawings. Again, they included several award winners.
Horder stopped book illustrating in 1968. For a time she continued to work for the New South Wales School Magazine , which she found less demanding. After a few years retirement in Europe, the Freemans returned to Australia in 1977. Margaret Horder became ill the following year and died in August 1978.
