Elspeth Douglas McClelland was born on 20 May 1879 in Keighley, Yorkshire to John McClelland, an accountant, and Epsey McClelland (née Robinson). She was baptised in Ilkley on 19 July the same year. She trained as an architect, the only female student among 600 men at the Polytechnic Architectural School in London, and has been described as the first woman to practice as an architect, although this is unlikely to be quite accurate.
