Born in Cromford and brought up in rural Derbyshire, she was educated at the Lea School in Holloway and the Lady Manners School in Bakewell, where she developed a love for science which led to a scholarship to Manchester University to read physics.
The Uttleys lived at Downs House, 13 Higher Downs, Bowdon, Cheshire from 1924 to 1938 which now has a blue plaque to signify the association.