 Her mother, Maria Pepys (1786–1885), was the daughter of John Sullivan, a privy councillor and a commissioner of the Board of Control.Emily was the youngest of the four children who survived to adulthood, the others being Philip Henry (1824–1886), later registrar of the London Court of Bankruptcy, Maria Louisa (1827–1924), who would marry a well-connected Worcestershire parson, the Rev.Edward Winnington-Ingram, and Herbert George (1830–1918), who become vicar of the new parish of Hallow, Worcestershire.