Margaret Elinor Hubble (29 December 1914 – 30 August 2006) was a British radio broadcaster. She was best known as a presenter of ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' in the 1950s. Hubble was born in Kent, the youngest of five children of a farmer. She attended a boarding school in Sussex, and joined the commercial radio department at advertising agency Erwin, Wasey & Company in 1938. She joined the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...

when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, making use of her agricultural upbringing, but then joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1940 as a secretary, but quickly moved into broadcasting. She became an overseas presentation assistant in 1941, and then chief announcer for the BBC African Service in 1942, presenting '' Forces Favourites'', a request programme in which members of the armed forces abroad, and their families at home, could ask the "compère", as presenters were called, to play their favourite music. There, she helped Jean Metcalfe make her first broadcast. She was the first woman announcer to broadcast on the Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme, the successor to the General Forces Programme, in 1943, and she was one of the first announcers on the

Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the lo ...

in 1945. She married Albert Cuthbert in June 1945, and, like most married women, resigned her full-time job to become a full-time wife. She rejoined the BBC in 1948 after her husband's early death. Hubble appeared on ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in September 1945, standing in at short notice for

Roy Plomley Francis Roy Plomley ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for creating the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception in ...

's invited guest,

Valerie Hobson Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) was a British actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband was John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the Pro ...

, who had flu. She occasionally presented ''

Family Favourites ''Family Favourites'' (remembered by its later name ''Two-Way Family Favourites'') was the successor to the wartime radio show ''Forces Favourites'', broadcast at Sunday lunchtimes on the BBC Light Programme, later BBC Radio 2 from 1945 unti ...

'' (also known as '' Two-Way Family Favourites''), the peacetime successor to ''Forces Favourites'', from 1945 until 1952. She became an announcer on ''

'' in 1951, with Marjorie Anderson and Jean Metcalfe. She married Philip Horne in 1950, and resigned from the BBC again in 1952. She continued to work as on a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

basis, rejoining ''Woman's Hour'' in 1957, and presenting other programmes on the Light Programme. She also took part in ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

'' on the

Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had a ...

, and '' Saturday Excursion'' on television. Hubble narrated '' Children's Newsreel'' from 1959, alongside Douglas Henderson, and presented '' Call from Home'' for the

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themsel ...

from 1969.

References

Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 9 September 2006
Obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 22 September 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubble, Margaret BBC Radio 4 presenters British radio personalities 1914 births 2006 deaths Journalists from Kent