Her parents Jean (born Clark) and Alexander Leith Forbes had her baptised.

[1] Helen Wilson Fell was the treasurer[2][3] and Elizabeth (then named Forbes) became its secretary.

In 1894 she went to Scotland to visit the Aberdeen W.M.A and to Egypt to see the work of an American mission.

She formed Young People's Mission Bands and the association had fifty branches by 1902 and the church's General Assembly authorised the association to collect money not only for overseas work but also for work in Australia.

In 1910 she returned to Scotland to attend the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh.