Her mother died in childbirth in 1875 and her elder half sister Beatrice became her de facto parent.

[1] She was educated at Marie Souvestre's Allenswood Boarding Academy together with her sisters, Ida and Ethel.

She and Ida bought the "Bury House"[1] (now Grade two listed[4]), which dated from the 1600s and had good transport links to London.

Their brothers Austen and Neville Chamberlain held all the major positions in the British government and both of them would send regular and informative letters.

[3] She and Ida were concerned about the military threat posed by Hitler's rise to power in Germany and tried to influence Neville as Prime Minister.