Annie Strudy was born in Scarborough in 1859. She married Horace Barnes Sturdy and they had 4 children. Sadly Horace died when he was only 38 and Annie struggled to raise her children as a single parent. She took in washing from neighbours and grew aspidistras, selling them at 2 pence a leaf. Annie was living in Harehills when she died aged 90 in 1950