Originally from Aberdeen, she became a headmistress in leading schools in New Zealand and Australia, but then returned to being a teacher.

Her parents were Grace Smith (née Knight) and the historian and writer John Mackintosh.

[1] Mackintosh became principal at Columba College in Dunedin, New Zealand, taking over from the founding head Frances Ross in 1930.

She introduced a new prayer that she had constructed based on Greek and biblical sources to show the link between religion and education.

[6] Mackintosh went back to Scotland, before later returning to Australia to work as a secondary school teacher in Sydney.