[3] Caroline (Kitty) was the sixth child of 12 siblings, 11 of whom survived infancy,[4] and one of the seven daughters of Horatio Nelson Kenney (1849–1912) and Anne Wood (1852–1905).

Her sisters included Sarah (Nell), Ann (Annie), Jessica (Jessie), Alice and Jane (Jennie).

They were employed; they ran a recovery centre for suffragettes in Kensington at a gothic pile known as Tower Cressy.

[5] In August 1909 Kitty was first invited to Eagle House, home of the Blathwayts and also known as the Suffragette's Rest, to join her two sisters.

[3] During the summer of 1910, Kitty and her sister Jennie, who were both teachers, joined Annie at Eagle House to recuperate from illness.