A celebrated English girls’ school story writer, Elsie J. Oxenham's was born Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley in 1880 in Southport, Lancashire, She was the daughter of writer John_Oxenham, born William John Dunkerley, who had chosen the pseudonym ‘John Oxenham’. And Elsie decided to adopt the same surname for her writing career.

Her father was a clear influence upon her own writing. Her brother, Roderic Dunkerley, was also an author (published under his own name), as was her sister Erica, who also used the 'Oxenham' name.

She grew up in Ealing, West London, where her family had moved when she was a baby, living there until 1922, when the family moved again, to Worthing. After the deaths of her parents, Oxenham lived with her sister Maida. She died in 1960.

Oxenham, whose interests included the Camp Fire movement, and English Folk Dance traditions, is primarily remembered as the creator of the 38-book 'Abbey Girls' series. In her lifetime she had 87 titles published, and another two have since been published by her niece, who discovered the manuscripts in the early 1990s.

She is considered a major figure among girls' school story writers of the first half of the 20th century -- one of the 'Big Three,' together with Elinor Brent-Dyer and Dorita Fairlie Bruce.