Adele Younghusband was born in the King Country. She was an active member of the Auckland Society of Arts. She moved to Whangarei with her three children after a period spent in Canterbury

In 1921 she became a member of the new Whangarei Art and Literary Society and between 1930 and 1934 she moved to Hamilton. During this time she worked as a photographer and became a founding member of the Waikato Society of Arts.

In 1937 she exhibited in Sydney, NSW and studied under George Frederick Henry Bell (1878-1966) in Melbourne where she developed her interest in abstract and surrealist ideas.

As a painter she experimented with colour and design and she was one of few New Zealand born artists to portray a working situation. An exhibition of her work in 1941 attracted a record gathering for an artist at that time.

Adele Younghusband exhibited with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1957 and her work is represented in the Waikato and Auckland Public Gallery collections as well as the Whangarei Art Museum which also houses an extensive collection of her photography.