Eleanor Sophie Sinclair Rohde was born in Alleppey, Travancore, India, on 9 August 1881.

She was the daughter of John Rohde, a civil servant in India, and his wife, Isabel Crawford.

Her work did much to encourage the modern popularity of herb gardens.

The Wartime Vegetable Garden was published in 1940 to promote increased food production by the general public during World War II.

[5] In her personal life, Rohde was shy, solitary and a strict vegetarian.