Crist was born in Clare Castle, Ireland on 6 February 1876 to Patrick and Winifred (née Rohan or Rouhan) Guerin.

Her first short story was published in Brisbane newspaper, The Queenslander, in December 1887, two months before her 12th birthday.

She wrote "Elsie In Fairyland" 12 months later for the "Christmas Supplement" of The Queenslander, published on 22 December 1888.

In 1929, a journalist wrote in the Adelaide Southern Cross that "Mrs Crist has already gained a reputation in Queensland akin to that of "John O'Brien", for her poems depicting Irish-Australian life in the bush".

[6] Crist died of tuberculosis on 13 June 1941 in hospital in Toowoomba, Queensland.