Lutyens was born in Kensington, London,[8] the tenth of thirteen children of Mary Theresa Gallwey (1832/33–1906) from Killarney, Ireland and Captain Charles Henry Augustus Lutyens (1829–1915), a soldier and painter.[9][10] His sister, Mary Constance Elphinstone Lutyens (1868-1951), wrote novels under her married name Mrs George Wemyss.[11][better source needed] He grew up in Thursley, Surrey.