Known to her family and friends as 'Yettie', Henrietta Macdonald had a religious upbringing being the eldest daughter in a large Protestant family. Although Macdonald displayed a childhood interest in writing, her work did not appear in published form until she contributed several short stories and poems to various weekly papers between 1898 and 1904.
In 1914 Macdonald travelled with her husband to the United Kingdom, landing in London only ten days after the commencement of World War I. Returning en route to Australia, the couple visited the USA where several drafts of her writing were stolen from Macdonald's trunk. They arrived back in Sydney in 1917 and spent the following years 'pioneering on the land'.
During her later years, Macdonald suffered from chronic poor health. She subsequently relocated to areas of New South Wales where the 'dry atmosphere' was considered to be beneficial to her condition. After spending a short period in Moree, in April 1949 the Macdonalds moved to Narrabri where Macdonald was eventually hospitalised after a fall broke her hip. Becoming increasingly distressed with the hospital treatment and heavily dosed with morphine, Macdonald pleaded with her husband to take her home. She died a few days later while travelling by train to Maitland.
