Campbell was born on 11 February 1804 at
Quarry Head,
Edzell,
Forfarshire, Scotland. She was baptized in
Tannadice parish. and she was the fifth of six surviving daughters born to her family. Her mother died when Campbell was aged three, which she later wrote about in her poetry as her first clear memory, stating that she and her sisters "wandered like forlorn cows from morn to night." Campbell briefly attended the village school, where she learned to read, before entering agricultural service, aged seven. While working as a domestic servant for the Gray family, Campbell lived in
Saint Malo, France, for two years. In 1832, when she was aged twenty-nine, Campbell married a
flax dresser from
Brechin, Forfarshire, called William Campbell. They had four sons and four daughters. Her husband died in 1873 in
Arbroath, Forfarshire. She lived with her three unmarried daughters in
Lochee after his death. ==Literary career==