Gladys Lilian King was born in Exeter, Devon to Joseph and Mary King. In 1911 King emigrated to Canada to work as a secretary but returned to England in 1915 to do war work. She became a member of the Women Police Service during the war and worked in factories and hostels before becoming employed at the "Beaver Hut", a refuge for Commonwealth soldiers. King worked at the Beaver Hut from September 30, 1918 to August 21, 1919. When the Beaver Hut closed at the end of the war King took up police work in Reading. In 1940 she gave up police work to become the full time female probation officer, a position she held until her retirement in 1949. King died in Reading on June 4, 1970.