Nancen Beryl (Nan) Chauncy was born in England in 1900 and migrated in 1912 to Tasmania with her parents, Lilla Osmond and Charles Edward Masterman and siblings, Leslie [Bob], John, Jan, Kay, and Evelyn (Eve). Nan attended the Collegiate School, Hobart until the age of 16. The Masterman family relocated to Bagdad, 32 km north of Hobart, in 1914. The family cleared parts of their land and established orchards. With a strong love of the nature and bush skills, Nan became involved with the Girl Guides' Association. In 1920 she established the Guides' Claremont Company. In 1925 she was appointed as a welfare officer at Cadbury Fry Pascall Ltd. Desiring to further her education and involvement with the Guides, Nan travelled to England in 1930. There she lived in a houseboat on the Thames, completed an unpublished novel and in 1934 visited Sweden, Finland and the Soviet Union. In 1938 Nan met a German refugee Helmut Anton Rosenfeld as she returned to Australia aboard the Meliskerk. Anton and Nan were married on 13 September 1938 at Holy Trinity Church, Lara, Victoria. The couple took on the surname 'Chauncy', the name of Nan's grandmother, in response to wartime anti-German sentiment. In Tasmania Nan and Anton established 'Chauncy Vale' at Bagdad. In 1939 they had their only child, Heather. Chauncy Vale was initially a goat stud, and by 1946 became an official sanctuary for native animals. A talented writer, Nan published many articles and wrote scripts for the ABC. Her first, full-length novel, They Found a Cave, was published in 1947 by Oxford University Press to great acclaim. She followed this with many short stories and a further thirteen novels including Tiger in the Bush (1958), Devil's Hill (1959), Tangara (1961), Mathinna's People (1967), and The Lighthouse Keeper's Son (1969). A film of They Found a Cave was released in 1962. Her books were translated into thirteen languages. Nan was a member of the Australian Society of Authors, president (1958-59) of the Tasmanian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and national correspondent (1960-63) for The Council Fire. Nan Chauncy died at Bagdad in 1970. Chauncy Vale was developed as a nature reserve and recreational area. Anton Chauncy died in May 1988. The sanctuary was bequeathed in his will to the local council, with Heather later gifting the house and home paddocks.