She and her parents fled Hungary at 1868 for fear of a possible peasant revolution. She once lived in Budapest, Brussels and Paris, and Emma also studied music during this time. Until 1880, the whole family moved to London and lived in the residence of fellow countryman Francis Picler at 162, Great Portland Street. After that, Emma attended the West London Art School, and then entered the Hessley Art School, where she met her future husband, montague McClane barstow, and they got married on 1894.