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Born Kate McMullen in the Leam Lane area of Tyne Dock , County Durham , she later moved to East Jarrow , which would become the setting for one of her best known novels, The Fifteen Streets . The illegitimate child of an Alcoholic mother, Cookson went on to sell more than 100,000,000 books, her works being translated into 20 languages. She also used the Pseudonym s Catherine Marchant and her maiden name, '''Katie McMullen'''. She left school at 13 and, after a period of domestic service, took a Laundry job in the Workhouse in South Shields . In 1929 she moved south to run the laundry at Hastings workhouse, saving every penny to buy herself a large Victorian house and taking in gentleman lodgers to supplement her income. In 1943, she married Tom Cookson, a teacher at Hastings Grammar School . After experienceing three Miscarriage s late in pregnancy, it was discovered she was suffering from a rare Vascular disease, Telangiectasia , which causes bleeding from the nose, fingers and stomach, and turns to Anaemia . A Mental Breakdown followed the miscarriages, from which she took a decade to recover. Cookson took up writing as a form of therapy to tackle her depression, and joined Hastings Writers' Group . Her first novel, Kate Hannigan, was published in 1950. Though it was labeled a Romance , she expressed discontent with the stereotype. Her books were, she said, Historical Novel s about people and conditions she knew. Cookson had little to do with the London literary circus. She was always more interested in practising the art of writing. Her research could be uncomfortable - going down a Mine , for instance, because her heroine came from a mining area. Having in her youth wanted to write about "above stairs" in grand houses, she later and successfully concentrated on people ground down by circumstances, taking care to know them well. She became a multi-millionaire from her books, many of which transferred to stage, film and radio. It was on television, however, that she achieved her greatest media success, with a series of dramas on ITV lasting over a decade and achieving huge ratings. She was always famed for her care with money, although she indulged in discreet Philanthropy , supporting causes in North East England and Medical Research in areas that were close to her heart. When public lending rights were introduced for authors, she became immediately eligible for the maximum £5,000 a year but gave it away for the benefit of less fortunate writers. She also gave more than £1 million for research into a cure for the illness that had afflicted her. In later life Catherine and Tom returned to the North East and settled first in Corbridge , a Market Town near Newcastle, and later in Langley, Northumberland , a small village nearby. As her health declined, they moved for a final time to Newcastle itself to be nearer medical facilities. In 1985 she created the Catherine Cookson Trust at the University Of Newcastle , and promised it more than £800,000. In gratitude, the university set up a lectureship in Haematology . Some £40,000 was given to provide a Laser to help treat bleeding disorders and £50,000 went to create a new post in ear, nose and throat studies, with particular reference to the detection of Deafness in children. She had already given £20,000 towards the university's Hatton Gallery and £32,000 to its library. The Foundation continues to make donations to good causes in the UK. She received the Freedom of the Borough of South Tyneside , today known as ''Catherine Cookson Country'' and an honorary degree from the University Of Newcastle . The Variety Club Of Great Britain named her ''Writer of the Year'', and she was voted ''Personality of The North-East''. Catherine Cookson was given the Order Of The British Empire in 1985 and knighted in 1993. She died aged 91 (16 days before her 92nd birthday) at her home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne , although her novels, many written from her sickbed, continued to be published posthumously. Her husband, Tom Cookson, died just three weeks later. In her memoirs, Dame Catherine suggested that her actual date of birth was June 20 , 1906 , although there is no known documentary evidence of this. A musical about the couple's life - ''Tom and Catherine'' - was written by local Playwright Tom Kelly . It played to sell-out crowds at the Customs House in South Shields. Bibliography
The Hamilton series
The Kate Hannigan series
The Tilly Trotter trilogy
The Mallen trilogy
The Bill Bailey trilogy
The Mary Ann stories
Children's stories
Autobiographies
Written as Catherine Marchant
Written as Katie McMullen
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