Her parents were the Reverend Charles James Sharp, the Vicar of Ealing, and his wife, Mary Frances Musgrave Harvey.

[3] Although the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act had been enacted in 1919, the examinations to enter the administrative grades at the civil service had only been opened to women in 1925.

The first three in 1925 were Alix Kilroy (a college friend), Enid Russell-Smith and Mary Smieton; all three would later be named Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

[2][5] She argued that for new towns to work they must not act against economic and social forces or be cross-subsidised, embracing the notion that they should be competitive.

By this she became the first woman to be in the highest executive position with a Ministry, and she worked for five different Ministers during her time: Duncan Sandys, Henry Brooke, Charles Hill, Keith Joseph and Richard Crossman.

[1] She developed a reputation for her depth of specialist knowledge and experience, direct approach and strength of character (to the extent that she is often described as "formidable"), and an ability to identify solutions,[2] a 'maker of civil servant history'.

After her retirement, she served on the Royal Commission on local government in England from 1966 to 1969 (see Redcliffe-Maud Report), and she was a member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority from 1966 to 1973.

She also served as a director of the construction company Bovis, and as president of the London and Quadrant Housing Trust.

[10] The intention of this report was to make transport planning in local government more efficient; the report discussed how to organise transport planning and what university courses would be needed to supply sufficient engineers and technicians to perform the work.