She lived half her life in England, exhibiting frequently there but infrequently in Canada.She returned to her hometown Victoria on occasion to reconnect with family and friends.

[4] Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Sophie, as she was known throughout her life, was the daughter of Theresa Jane Grautoff and Joseph Despard Pemberton (1821–1893), an engineer and surveyor, employed by the Hudson's Bay Company on Vancouver Island.

[3][5] Pemberton first studied art at Mrs. Cridge's Reformed Episcopal School and at age 13 had two watercolour landscapes included in a presentation album for the visiting Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.

She often sketched en plein air, and recorded landscapes of the Cowichan Bay and Shawnigan Lake areas north of Victoria as well as the Fraser Valley.

[4] A major breakthrough for Pemberton came when the Royal Academy of Arts accepted Daffodils, 1897, a large academic realist oil painting, for its annual London summer exhibition.

In 1899, she had the honour of being the first woman to receive the Prix Julian, a gold medal and cash award presented annually for the best student portrait at the academie, in a contest open to both men and women.

[6] Pemberton's goal was a serious one, to become a professional portrait artist, and she did so in a culture and at a time when formal portraiture in her chosen media, oil painting had been largely the domain of men.

[4] English and European influences can be seen in her work, primarily from the academic tradition of British portraiture and the Barbizon school but there are indications that she was aware of the French Impressionists and the current trends in art as reflected in the public exhibitions and private galleries.

[4] On her retreats home to Victoria, Pemberton also taught painting to local female artists, sharing the experiences of her formal art training.

[4] In 2023, the AGGV organized a full-scale retrospective titled Unexpected: The Life and Art of Sophie Pemberton, Canadian Artist, guest curated by Dr. Kathryn Bridge who extensively researched Pemberton and discovered that the artist's career which had been thought to came to an abrupt end shortly after her first marriage, and move of residence to the UK in 1909, forcing her into relative obscurity, actually was longer.

[14] Also in 2023 to accompany the show, Bridge wrote, Sophie Pemberton: Life & Work for the Art Institute of Canada, available online, which supplied additional information on Pemberton, including her extensive sketching travels in Europe, friendship with Victoria Sackville-West (mother of Vita Sackville-West), her role in the Women's Suffrage Movement, and her baffling recurring illnesses.