She was the youngest child of furniture salesman Henry Lovell Woolacott and Jane Kate (née Wilmot).

[1] She was employed by The Land to write "The Countrywoman" and the "Beehive" supplements for the paper,[2] following her marriage in 1930 to Jack Fenston.

[5] She took over as editor in 1950 when Alice Mabel Jackson moved to The Weekly's main rival, Woman's Day.

[5] In the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours Fenston was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "service to journalism".

[7] In 2023 the Esme Fenston Fellowship was inaugurated to celebrate the 90th anniversary of The Women's Weekly and in recognition of her contribution to it.