Sheila Walsh

Sheila Frances O'Nions was born on 10 October 1928 in Birmingham, England, UK. She was the daughter of Wilfred O'Nions, a civil servant, and his wife Margaret (Moran) O'Nions. She studied at the Notre Dame Convent at Birkdale, Southport. During the Second World War, her family moved to her loved Southport, Lancashire. She studied at Southport College of Art, from 1945 to 1948. In Southport, she met a handsome young, Desmond "Des" Walsh, and they married in 22 April 1950. The marriage had two daughters, Fran Walsh and Tess Walsh. Her husband was the son of the Thomas Walsh, who had a jewelry store in Southport at 39 Chapel Street since 1926, and Sheila worked during years in her husband's familiar jewelry store, with her husband, her husband's elder brother, Gerard Walsh, and his wife Dorothy. In 1971, Sheila joined the Southport Writers' Circle. Published in 1975, her debut novel, "The Golden Songbird", won the Netta Muskett award for new writers from the Romantic Novelists' Association, and in 1984, her novel, A Highly Respectable Marriage won the Elizabeth Goudge award. Since 1980, she became the vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and later the thirteenth elected Chairman (1985-1987). En 1986, she was elected life president of the Southport Writers' Circle. Sheila suffered from Alzheimer's disease in her later years. Survived by her husband and their two daughters, she passed away in 20 January 2009, at 80.