Elsie McNaught was born in Hackney, London, England on 12 March.1886 and was the daughter of William Gray McNaught, a musical editor and conductor. From 1905 to 1908 she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London where she was awarded a distinction in drawing for the year 1907-08. A pastel portrait by her of the artist Dora Carrington, one of her fellow students, is in the permanent collection of the Slade. After leaving the Slade, McNaught worked as a painter and muralist. She was also a wood engraver. A wood engraving by her is in the collection of the University of the Arts London. In 1919 she painted two murals for the entrance hall of the Whitechapel Gallery in London. They were created as a memorial to the East End reformer Samuel Augustus Barnett.