[2] She was one of 10 children, including notable younger brother Christopher Stone, and attended the Francis Holland School for Girls in London.

[2] Between 1901 and 1905 she was an actress, under the stage name "Faith Reynolds", in Sir Charles Hawtrey's company, appearing in London and New York, initially in his production of A Message from Mars.

[10] By the late 1930s Mackenzie became best known for volumes of memoirs describing her life in places such as Capri, Paris, Rome, Milan, Guernsey and Barra.

[10][13] During the Second World War Mackenzie lived in Peace Cottage, Kingweston, in Somerset, until the lease ran out and she was forced to return to London.

[5] In 1950, Lady Mackenzie bought a stuffed tabby cat at Portobello Market that was purported to be Crimean Tom, the famous survivor of the war in Sebastopol.

Faith Compton Mackenzie's works have largely remained out of print, but in 2024 her first story collection "Mandolinata" and her last novel "Tatting" were republished in a single volume.