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Sheila was born in Hartlepool in 1930 into a family who ran a grocery chain. Her aunt ran a nearby butcher’s shop and Sheila worked there from her early teens. She also worked at her family’s shop, missing a lot of school. Her mother was largely bedbound from rheumatic heart disease, so the GP was a frequent visitor—he even arranged for his young assistant to lodge at the family home. Sheila’s parents placed little importance on education, so she left school at 15, with the plan that she would eventually take over her aunt’s butcher’s shop.