Mary Ann or “Polly” was born on August 26, 1845, on Fleet Street in London. Her parents were Caroline and Edward Walker. Edward was a blacksmith who was involved in working on typeface for the growing print industry on Fleet Street. As such, he was probably involved with “Grub Street,” a term that referred to a specific street in London but more generally referred to an area where many low-end publishers, newspapers, and impoverished writers were located. Polly likely attended one of the two types of public schools available at the time, the National School or one of the “slightly more rigorous” (19) British Schools. There, Polly was allowed to stay in school until she was 15 and learned to read and write. The neighborhood Polly grew up in was cramped, with little privacy and poor living conditions, such as air pollution from factories and residents relying on contaminated water for their needs.

After Caroline Walker’s death from tuberculosis in November of 1852, Edward kept his children together, instead of leaving them in a workhouse as many working-class families in similar situations would have done. Polly’s brother, Frederick, also died from tuberculosis in 1854. Caroline’s sister, Mary Webb, seems to have helped raise the children.