For at least a decade before Maude was born, her family lived in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where Rev. James R. Narraway served as the minister of a Methodist Church. By 1860, the young family resided in New Brunswick. Maude was one of four siblings, and she was not the only teacher among them. Sister Bessie Narraway also distinguished herself among educationists, earning a Grammar School License in New Brunswick (the highest class achievable) and taking a position as Chief Preceptress at Newfoundland's Wesleyan College in 1887. Maude's brother, James Ephriam Narraway was a palaeontologist and three-time Canadian Chess Champion.