Isabel Ecclestone Mackay (nee Macpherson), author, was born in Woodstock, Ontario on November 25, 1875. Isabel was educated at the Woodstock Collegiate Institute and began writing for the Woodstock Daily Express at the age of 15. In 1895 Isabel married Peter J. Mackay and in 1909 they moved to Vancouver where Isabel wrote all of her major works.

All together she published six novels, four collections of poems and five plays as well as over 300 poems and short stories in various publications. Many of Isabel's plays were staged in Canada and the United States. Isabel was also the first president of the Canadian Women's Press Club and president of the British Columbia Section of the Canadian Authors' Association. Her play "Treasure" won the open, all Canadian I.O.D.E. contest in 1926. Isabel died August 15, 1928.