 Her father was a tailor and whilst Flora was still a small child the family moved to Pirnmill on the Isle of Arran, where her mother had her roots.On leaving high-school at the age of fourteen Flora moved to Glasgow to take a business training course at a civil service school where she passed the qualifications to become a post-mistress but standing at was refused a post as she did not meet the newly introduced minimum height requirement.Although she went on to gain a Society of Arts qualification in shorthand and typing she still carried a resentment about the discrimination which meant that women, because of their smaller average height, were prevented from being postmistresses.