Lowe was a widowed mother of one who hailed from Southend-on-Sea. Following the death of her husband in 1932, Lowe had sold the family fancy-goods business. She later enrolled her daughter in a boarding school before relocating alone to London, where she obtained employment as a house cleaner in 1934. Shortly thereafter, using the alias Peggy Campbell, she began to engage in prostitution, although every third weekend, Barbara would travel to London from Southend via train to visit her mother, and Lowe would devote her weekend to social activities such as visiting the cinema and local landmarks with her daughter.