Born in North Adelaide, Nell was educated at North Adelaide and Adelaide High School. She attended the Adelaide Teachers' College, and was a teacher for eleven years before marrying a farmer and going to live at Warrow, on Eyre Peninsula. They had three children, They have now retired in Cummins and Nell joined the Cummins Creative Writers in 1985. She is an avid reader and a keen craft worker. She has travelled to the United Kingdom and to South Africa.
