1869. Viola is born the third daughter of Silas and Cora Sinistra, a working class family.
1871. Another daughter, Esther, joins the family.
1873. A fifth daughter, Myrtle, is born. This is also the year that Viola shows her first sign of magic.
1876. After six daughters, it's almost bizarre to have a boy in the family. Or at least Viola thinks so. Her parents seem thrilled, even if it means having another mouth to feed.
1877. The family opts to move to Hogsmeade with much of the rest of the magical community, and Viola is mostly happy to have more people to interact with that aren't just her family. She loves them, but there are a lot of people living in a little house--they're too much.
1880. Viola leaves for Hogwarts. She is a good enough student, mostly through sheer determination, knowing that she won't get to continue at school unless she secures herself at least a partial scholarship. What she does mostly excel in is socializing. It would be unkind to say she was often in everyone else's business. It would be the truth, though.
1884. The Laughing Plague hits the family hard, claiming both Viola's mother and eldest sister. Esther chooses to leave school to help support the family, though Viola and Myrtle allowed to continue, if only because they have scholarships--and Viola will be leaving after her OWLs, anyway.
1885. Viola sits her OWLs and leaves Hogwarts. She gets a job at the Ministry in the Public Information Services department, which at least makes her feel more important than working in a shop, and fits her temperament better than most other jobs she's technically qualified for, anyway.
1886. The establishment of Pennyworth is rather exciting until Viola realizes they can't really afford to move.
1894. Viola's life is reasonably stable, but boring and stagnant. She wants adventure--and, probably, to do something stupid, though of course she wouldn't describe it that way!