Her father was regarded by her mother's family as "a most undesirable character, but 'rolling in money'", having taken up the life of a "gentleman alcoholic"[5] on resigning his commission after receiving an inheritance from his wealthy uncle Harold Lees, of Pickhill Hall,[6][7] near Wrexham, then part of Denbighshire; he was "attractive, reckless, witty, and... musical", and fond of pranks.

[1] He had enough income to support his family, allowing Georgie and her mother to spend "a good deal of their time" travelling in Europe,[4] but his wife was in the awkward social position of being a "married woman without a husband".

The family lived a vaguely bohemian and nomadic lifestyle, travelling frequently to country homes and spending long periods visiting relatives.

[10] After the death of her father in 1909 at the age of 44,[4] Georgie's mother married Dorothy's uncle, Henry Tucker, Olivia Shakespear's brother, and they moved to Kensington.

[2] Her mother often brought young musicians and artists she had recently met to Olivia Shakespear's salon, many of whom became well-known modernists, including Ezra Pound, Walter Rummel, and Frederic Manning.