Of Dutch origins, (her father was Dutch, but he seems to have worked as a surveyor in many parts of the world before settling in England) she was born in Northern Ireland in 1899. she studied art at a college in Orpington and then went to the Royal College of Art, where she met her future husband Charles Cundall after the 14-18 war, when he had returned to the R.C.A. for a short period before going to the Slade. They were married in 1923 and lived in Paris. At the RCA she studied wood engraving, According to her daughter when the couple returned to London she was mostly preoccupied with being a supportive wife. In the early 30s she painted miniatures on Ivory. And later still she was doing small oil paintings, mainly still life and flowers, and sending them to the R.A. with quite a bit of success.
We are grateful to Jackie Setter for assistance.