Career
She was raised in Wigan and North Wales, where she became a teacher and later school headmistress. During the course of her career, she wrote over 80 novels and non-fiction books for children, many of her novels following the adventures of two families, The Brydons and The Deans. Her work has been praised for the depth and detail of research into the background of her stories.
The award, which closed in 2002, was awarded to previously unpublished authors for novels for children aged 8 to 12.