Campbell was born on 9 October 1889 in British Ceylon,[1] where her father was an agent of a tea company, but she had family roots in Argyll.
Her maternal grandfather was Sir William Bovill, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who presided at the long-running Tichborne case.
[3] She practised as a barrister in the chambers of H. H. Joy, and returned to the Ministry of Food as an Enforcement Officer in London in the Second World War.
Despite some questions about her suitability for the office, her appointment was confirmed, and she quickly gained a reputation for passing severe sentences.
Despite some initial controversy in the press, she continued as a stipendiary magistrate until she reached the mandatory retirement age of 72 in 1962.