Edith Emily Prevett was born on 25th March 1877 in the small West Sussex village of Balcombe, located between Brighton and London. Her parents, Henry Thomas Prevett (1853-1928), an agricultural labourer, and Ann Sophia Harwood (1855-1935), had been married five months earlier and were living at number 13 Balcombe Lane. Edith was baptised at the small parish church, St Mary's, on 29th April of the same year, the first of eventually eleven children of the couple, all born and baptised in the same village.

The 1881 Census, taken to record all residents on 3rd April 1881, records Edith and her parents, as well as two younger siblings, William Henry and Annie Laura, who were born in the two years subsequent to Edith's birth. As well as the parents and their children, sharing the home was Henry's mother Mary Ann Prevett (nee Breden).

At the age of 14, Edith was already working. She was recorded on the 1891 Census which detailed individuals statuses as at 5th April 1891, working as a servant to Abbie Johnson Langley, a baker in the village, and was residing at the Bake House, near North Villa in the village.