She was the last surviving child of Henry Buist (1762-1822) and considered to be the matriarch of the Buist family of Strathmiglo Parish, Fife. Rachel Buist was born and raised at East Mill, a corn mill in the parish. She began working as a dressmaker in the village of Strathmiglo and by 1871 she was noted in the census as a being a retired dressmaker. Rachel Buist would never marry and lived in Strathmiglo most of her entire life. This then is the narrative of the life and times of Rachel Buist.