Born in Delhi, Betty Elzea studied at Chelsea School of Art and took courses in the history of art at the University of London before joining the staff of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1956, and Brighton Museum in 1970. Between 1974 and 1990 she was employed part-time at the Delaware Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She returned to the UK and her catalogue raisonne of Sandys's work was published in 2001, the year that the Castle Museum, Norwich, put on a major Sandys exhibition to support its publication. In retirement, Betty completed her biography of the artist, helped and encouraged by Sandys's grandson, the late Anthony Crane, who gave her access to the family archive which she has since inherited and bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
