Her name was Madeleine. She was born in 1892. She has not given the date of her birth in her autobiography. Her father, a naval officer, was often away in distant waters for two years or more at a stretch, so her mother used to go with the children to Milton Heath, the country home of her father. This house stood in some twenty acres of land on high ground, beautifully laid out with gardens, paddocks for the cows, and a rich collection of shrubs and trees. Motorcars did not exist in those days, so there were stables full of fine horses, some for the carriages and some for riding and hunting. At the bottom of the sloping paddocks was a cowshed with four or five Jersey cows, chicken house and pigsties.
The house had a beautiful view up the Dorking Valley with the North Downs to the right and the Leith Hill Range to the left. The day nursery was on the top floor, so she got the best view of all, and the night nursery was on the middle floor, looking out over the stable yard, which pleased her very much.