She was a fervent supporter of blue Persians, which she promoted, notably by exhibiting her pair at the Crystal Palace,[1] and for having written The Book of the Cat (1903).

Census records show that Elizabeth Frances Ann Simpson was born in Haughton-le-Skerne, County Durham, England, around 1857.

She was the third of six children born to the Reverend Robert James Simpson and his wife Mary Elizabeth, between 1853 and 1870.

[3] Simpson appears to have been subsidized mainly through her writing, including articles and commentaries in Fur and Feather and later, Our Cats, but also by other publishers, undoubtedly presenting herself as a rising expert on domestic felines and their many varieties.

By this time, she had behind her a number of best-selling publications, one of which had been reprinted, and was regularly producing specialist speeches on breed varieties for periodicals, such as Every woman's encyclopaedia,[4] in which she wrote about the manx,[5] Persian,[6] and others.