Eleanor Caroline Hill was born in March of 1831 in Tottenham, England. Her father, Sir Rowland Hill, was credited with inventing Britain's penny postage system. She was her father’s private secretary for 25 years.
In 1861, Eleanor married Arthur Fellow. They moved to Victoria in 1862 where she spent most of the 1860s. Eleanor travelled extensively to France, United States, and South America, including train travel over the isthmus of Panama. She also traveled throughout Eastern Canada and lived for a year in Nova Scotia. When Fellows was widowed she returned to England. At age 71, in 1903, she married Henry Smyth.
In 1907, Smyth published a book about her father, Sir Rowland Hill: The story of a great reform. In 1916, Fellows privately published reminiscences of her life, which included extensive musings on her time in British Columbia.
Eleanor Caroline Smyth was buried in Great Mongeham, England.