While biographer Toby Creswell posited that Leila was part-Maori,[1] he provides no evidence of this; in fact NSW birth deaths and marriages records show she was the granddaughter of John Crane (Coventry, England) and Janet McKenzie (Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland) and John Waddell and Elizabeth McAnally (both of County Monaghan, Ireland).

[3] She began her professional career as a violin teacher at Presbyterian Ladies' College, Croydon, and Ascham and Kambala schools.

His Book of Lies was largely dedicated to Waddell, with poems like "Duck Billed Platypus" and "Waratah Blossoms".

[citation needed] Crowley also starred Waddell, along with other 'fiddlers', in a septette called "The Ragged Ragtime Girls" on the London stage.

[1] The Sydney Morning Herald noted: "Besides possessing an excellent technique, Miss Waddell's style as a violinist was particularly marked by charm and refinement.