Born into a working class background, Barbara Wheatcroft lived with her parents and sister in a terrace house behind the Bushey Police Station. She attended school at Merry Hill School and London Road School, leaving at fifteen to take up her first job, working with an estate agent. She married a policeman in 1953 and when their first child was born in 1956 she gave up office work. They had two more children, and lived in Harrow Weald until migrating to Australia in 1965. In 1980, as a sole parent, she became interested in writing while working in the office at her youngest daughter's school. She needed something to keep her busy while her daughter went through what she calls the 'matriculation syndrome' (personal correspondence). She joined the Society of Women Writers in 1991 and held office in it for five years. She married her present husband in 1996 and lives at Hope Valley. She enjoys travelling, loves growing roses, and, with a husband who is a glider pilot, is fascinated by the graceful and silent flight of gliders.
