Margaret Clement (missing person)

Margaret Clement
The Lady of the Swamp as a wealthy young socialite
Born(1881-03-08)8 March 1881
DisappearedMay 1952 (aged 71)
Tullaree Homestead
Buffalo, Victoria
StatusDeclared dead in absentia
29 July 1954(1954-07-29) (aged 73)
OccupationReclusive pauper
Known forUnexplained disappearance

Margaret Clement (8 March 1881 – disappeared May 1952; declared legally dead 29 July 1954), popularly known as the Lady of the Swamp, was an Australian socialite, farmer, eccentric, recluse, and missing person

Clement was a wealthy socialite who fell into destitution and squalor, before returning to the public eye following the death of her even more reclusive sister, who had to be recovered by foot from the dilapidated grand rural homestead they shared deep in a Gippsland swamp.

Two years later, shortly after ending a decades-long legal dispute and selling the homestead she had shared with her sister, Clement sensationally disappeared from the property without a trace.

As of 2025, her remains have not been recovered.