Christobel Mattingley (formerly Shepley) was born in South Australia on 26 October 1931. The family moved from Adelaide to Sydney and, when Christobel was aged 14, to Tasmania. She studied at The Friends' School, Hobart and graduated from the University of Tasmania, after which she trained as a librarian. She was the author of more than 50 books, 47 of which were for children. She also wrote short stories, poetry, articles and film scripts. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1996, for services to literature. Amongst her Tasmanian books were two adult biographies - Ruby of Trowutta: Recollections of a country postmistress and King of the Wilderness: The life of Deny King.;;The majority of her papers can be found at the National Library of Australia and the State Library of South Australia