Mary Salmon was born at sea during her family's voyage to Australia, and grew up in Sydney, where her father worked as a chemist. She initially trained and worked as a school teacher, then in 1888, she turned to journalism.
In her obituary (Sydney Morning Herald, 8 January 1937, p.17), her turn to journalism is mistakenly credited to the early death of her husband, in 1888, after a marriage of only a few months. Rather, it was her father, John Matthew Wright, who died in 1888, aged 64.
Mary Salmon married in 1901, to James Salmon, son of James Salmon, an architect of Glasgow: they were married in Hornsby on 22 June 1901 (marriage notice) also includes James Salmon died on 8 July 1901, aged 48.
For a number of years she was connected with the Evening News and its weekly stablemate the Australian Town and Country Journal, but she later wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald. She also contributed to Melbourne newspapers such as the Argus and the Australasian, and to regional newspapers such as the Bathurst Free Press.
