Sister Bernadette was born Shelagh Mannion in Scotland sometime in the mid to late 1920s. Her age is never given but she is quoted as being in her early thirties by 1958. Her mother died when she was a child and, after the death of her father she left Scotland for London where she trained at the Royal London Hospital as a nurse and midwife. She joined the Order of St Raymond Nonnatus as a postulant on July 1st 1948 straight after qualifying and took the religious name of Sister Bernadette. The NHS was due to start 4 days later and they needed all hands on deck.During her time at Nonnatus House, Sister Bernadette proved herself a highly skilled midwife, teacher and administrator who also became the unofficial deputy to the sister-in-charge, Sister Julienne. The two shared a close bond which some liken to a mother/daughter relationship.After 10 years with the order, Sister Bernadette began to reach something of a crisis. She had started to question her vocation, while admitting that it was not a crisis of faith, she nevertheless felt that she may be suited to a secular life. This was compounded by her growing feelings for the local GP, Patrick Turner, who had been widowed a year or so previously. Gradually it became obvious to her that her feelings were reciprocated and she began talks with Sister Julienne. Things came to a head in August 1958 when she was diagnosed with TB and spent some months in a sanatorium. After her recovery she decided to leave the order and became engaged to Dr Turner, reverting to her birth name of Shelagh.As of October 1959, Shelagh and Patrick were happily married with Patrick's son Timothy and newly adopted daughter Angela completing their family. Show less «