Helen Davis established her literary credentials in 1890 with the novel For So Little. The eldest daughter of Samuel Bradley Corrigan she was born at the property 'Altamont' near the Tasmanian township of Jerusalem (now Colebrook). The estate was the property of her grandfather, Lieutenant Corrigan, an officer who fought under the 1st Duke of Wellington (aka the Iron Duke) during the Peninsula War (1808-1814). Her maternal grandfather, who also fought under the Duke during that same war, later became aide-de-camp to the Governor of Tasmania.
After completing her education in Victoria at Geelong and Melbourne, Davis worked for several years as a journalist in New Zealand (and was subsequently identified incorrectly as a native of that country on a number of occasions). Following the success of For So Little she moved to London. It was there in 1895 that she adapted the novel into a four act melodrama,which she renamed A Life Policy. It was staged at Terry's Theatre, London, beginning 20 July.
Davis published at least two other novels, Angus Murray (1897) and A Dangerous Intimacy (1899).
