[1] Born Agnes Newberry Orchard in Leicestershire, England on 17 January 1899, she married George Bradley Maltby in 1917.

[2] Maltby held several exhibitions of her artwork, including at Newman's Gallery in Melbourne in 1934,[3] where it was reported that her pen and colour drawings were in the style of Arthur Rackham[4] and The Bulletin's art critic wrote that she "has the needful imagination to work out dainty scenes as acceptable to adults as to children and swing back the mature cynic to his infantile faith in fairies".

[5] In 1937, while visiting her parents in England, she created illustrations of "gum leaves and quaint folklore scenes" for a London company, who were interested in her work.

In the 1950s Maltby's book sales were impacted by imported publications, so she and her husband opened Santa's Workshop and a Fairyland Emporium in her studio at Olinda, Victoria.

[10] The Australian Women's Weekly also held a colouring competition, using her work as its theme and offering two trips to Disneyland to the age-group winners and signed copies of the book as other prizes.