[1] The daughter of Joseph Henry Little, a medical practitioner born in Ireland, and Agnes Elisabeth Mellor, his wife, a native of England, she was born in Brisbane.
She was educated in Brisbane, in England and at the Girls' High School in Armidale, going on to receive a BSc and MB from the University of Sydney.
She served as junior and then senior resident at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital from 1915 to 1917.
She paid her own way to England and enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1918 as a captain.
[2] Her commanding officer there wrote a letter to Sir Charles Martin, director of the Lister Institute, commending Little for her hard work and dedication.