Fereday was born Susan Georgina Marianne Apthorpe in Leicestershire, England in 1815. She married in 1837 and emigrated with her husband to Australia aboard the Aden in 1846.[4] Fereday lived in "The Grove" in George Town, Tasmania and used the local flora as inspiration for her paintings.[3] Fereday exhibited her art at the Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition of 1866-1867.[4]