Lillian Campbell was born in Westphalia, St. Andrew, Jamaica, on 28 February 1898. Her parents were Samuel and Evelina Campbell. She helped her mother to raise her siblings following the death of her father. She outlived all of her siblings. She worked as dressmaker and shopkeeper. In 1937, she married Robert Anderson and had one son, Raymond.

Her husband died in 1971. Following the death of her husband, she single-handedly operated their 14-acre farm until the age of 82, when she came to live with her son in St Andrew. According to her son, she was always in good health, hardly ever needing to go to the doctor. She lived with her son in Millsborough Avenue, Saint Andrew, Jamaica. In 2011, for her 113th birthday, she received a birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II

Anderson passed away at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) on 2 July 2011, aged 113 years, 124 days.