Fyles was born September 30, 1875, in
Cowansville,
Quebec, Canada. She was the seventh of ten children born to Reverend Dr. Thomas Fyles and his wife, Mary. Her father was an
English Anglican clergyman and amateur entomologist who emigrated to Canada from
England to establish parishes and studied and illustrated insects (
entomology) as a hobby. Fyles excelled in school. She graduated from Compton Ladies College in 1896 with honours and the medal in botany. (Compton Ladies College, an all-girls boarding school in Compton, Quebec, was later known as King's Hall.) After graduation, she spent a year studying the flora of Québec with her father and took art classes as a member of the Quebec Studio Club. Fyles then taught school for six years — one of the few occupations open to women at the time. - at Dunham Ladies College, Dunham, Quebec and then at
Bishop Strachan School,
Toronto. She then spent a year travelling and studying in Europe (mainly in London and
Paris with study trips to
Spain and
Italy in 1909). Like her father, Fyles was an active member of the
Ottawa Field Naturalists Club, serving on its committees and councils and contributing articles to its publications and other journals. ==Career==