Emma Alice Margaret (Margot) Asquith was born in 1864, the sixth daughter of Scots parents Emma and Charles Tennant. Her father 'an exceptionally enterprising and farseeing man of business' (DNB), became very wealthy, and developed a taste for collecting fine art and porcelain. He was a Member of Parliament from 1879 until 1886, and created a baronet in 1885. In 1853 he bought an estate in Peeblesshire, Scotland and enlarged the house The Glen, which was to become the family home in which Margot spent her youth. She received a very limited education from a governess, and recalled 'It was only because my father had a fine library and we were fond of reading that I learned anything before I was sixteen' ( More Memories, p. 12) but she and her elder sister Laura were introduced to a large circle of politicians and members of London society who were entertained at The Glen.

Margot had many suitors and in 1894 she married H.H. Asquith, the Home Secretary, as his second wife. His first wife, mother of his five children, had died in 1891. Margot and H.H. Asquith had two children who survived infancy, Elizabeth and Anthony. In 1905 Asquith became Chancellor of the Exchequer and in 1908 Prime Minister. His wife's leading position in London Society is reflected in her correspondence.

From an early age Margot kept a diary and wrote stories and observations about her life. When her sister Laura died in 1886 she compiled an account of her early life, illness and death. In later life she went on to write her autobiography and many other books. She also contributed articles to magazines and newspapers.