Pauline Elizabeth Pritchard was born July 10th, 1954 in Edinburgh, Scotland. She joined her parents, Lily (née Bass) and Frank Pritchard, and brother Francis Steven. She lived in Edinburgh until she was 16, attending the St. Thomas of Aquin’s school then moved to York and attended the Queen Ann Grammar School For Girls. In March 1972 she started her nurse’s training at the King Edward VII Orthopaedic Hospital in Sheffield, England and became a fully qualified nurse in November 1976.