[2] Her father was a member of parliament for Waikouaiti between 1884 and 1887 and her uncle, Frank Buckland, was an MP for Auckland electorates at the same time.

[5] Her aunt was artist and translator Bessie Hocken, who was a key influence on her photography practice,[6] and her nephew was doctor Geoffrey Orbell.

While she was a teenager she often used a pseudonym, P. Gay, while she changed it to a capital 'B' as she got older and then when she became a professional photographer she began using her initials and full name.

[11] Buckland managed to photograph the Terra Nova as it made an unannounced visit to Akaroa as its first port of call after Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctica expedition in 1912.

Her mother died in April 1934 and Buckland and Mackenzie left Akaroa in January 1935 and travelled to the United Kingdom.