Elizabeth Margaretta Bell-Irving was born at Lamberhurst in 1848 to George and Anna Maria Bell-Irving who were descended from the Bell-Irvings of Dumfires in Scotland. She travelled most her life with her father as his practice as a General Practitioner moved around the country. She settled at Sunnybank in Mayfield after her father's death in 1896 where she commenced her research into the history of Mayfield. In 1903 she published Mayfield: The Story of an Old Wealden Village which established her as the authority on Mayfield for many years.