Kathleen Dayus

Her husband had never made sufficient contributions to national insurance to provide her with a widow's pension, meaning she had to apply for financial assistance from the parish.

In attempting to supplement this meagre support with odd jobs, she was reported and informed by the relief office that she could be prosecuted.

She took the decision to put her children into the care of Doctor Barnardo's in hopes of finding work and being able to provide a stable home for her family.

After eight years, she succeeded in becoming an independent businesswoman with six employees, living in a three-bedroomed rented house; by this time her son had been sent into the Navy at the age of eleven and she made an unfortunate attempt to take her youngest daughter from Barnardo's, resulting in being refused any access to her children.

In August 2006 her work was featured daily, read by Diana Bishop and abridged by Julian Wilkinson, as Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4.