Her parents were Hannah (born Gurney) and Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, first baronet.

[2] Buxton served as her fathers special assistant as he led the campaign to end slavery in the British colonies.

[2] Buxton married the Scottish politician Andrew Johnston who was an ally of her father.

Johnston had stood in the reformed 1832 general election where he became the MP for the St Andrews District of Burghs.

[4] They chose to get married on 1 August 1834 which was the day that the majority of slaves in the British Empire were legally freed.