Louisa, as she was generally known, was born on her parents' property "Oldbury", Sutton Forest, about three miles from Berrima, New South Wales, and was their fourth child.
Her mother remarried, but this second husband, George Barton, a family friend, "became violently and irrevocably insane not long after the marriage"[REF] resulting in the family needing to leave "Oldbury".