Ethel Mary Smyth was born in Sidcup, Kent, England.
Ethel Mary Smyth was born on April 22, 1858, in Sidcup, Kent, England, to Major-General John Hall Smyth of the Royal Artillery and his wife, Emma Struth Smyth. She was the fourth of eight children and grew up in a traditional military family. Her birth marked the beginning of a journey that would see her breaching gender barriers in music and activism.