Effie Laura Browne (born Manby) was born in March 1857 in Smethwick, Staffordshire, England. In 1878, she married Walter Raleigh Browne (1843-1884) in Hanover, Jamaica. They had two children during their marriage. In August 1884 she traveled with her husband to Canada to attend a meeting for the British Science Association. After they arrived in Montreal, he became ill and suffered from typhoid fever. He was taken to a hospital but died on 4 September 1884. Effie Laura died on April 10, 1941, in Bournstream, Gloucestershire, England.