Winifred was born in 1882 at 8
Merton Street,
Oxford, the youngest child of Rev.
Edmund Arbuthnott Knox and Ellen Penelope French, daughter of the missionary Rev.
Valpy French. Her father was a fellow at
Merton College, Oxford at the time of her birth and later was the fourth
Bishop of Manchester (1903–1921). Her father was of Ulster Scots descent. Knox was one of the first 40 pupils to attend
Wycombe Abbey School, and she went on to read Modern History at
Lady Margaret Hall,
Oxford. ==Career==