Frances Rix Ames was born in Pretoria, Transvaal (now Gauteng), on 20 April 1920. Her father deserted the family when she was still an infant, leaving her mother, a nursing sister, penniless, to raise three daughters on her own.

Henrietta (Ettie or Het) Rebecca Stakesby Lewis was born in 1850 at the Umpukani Mission Station, Orange Free State (now Free State Province), and grew up in the Kat River area, Eastern Cape Province. She was Olive Schreiner’s elder sister.

Eric Magamana Lubisi was born on 11 October 1946 in Highlands, near Eastwood in Pretoria, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He was the only son and had five sisters. At the age of twelve, he and his family relocated to Mamelodi Johannesburg. Transvaal. He completed his matric at Mamelodi High School – art was one of his subjects, which his teacher, Alex Selepe, encouraged. Lubisi started drawing with charcoal. He participated in various art activities at the local youth club.