(1930-2003)
Published in Windlesora 21 (2005)
© WLHG
Sheila will be remembered as a person of great vitality and charm. She combined creative energy with an enquiring mind and a talent for visual presentation. Her books and articles, whilst being eminently readable, were based on meticulous research. She always preferred to consult original sources rather than published work and would show prodigious energy in pursuit of the facts. She was a prolific author who enjoyed writing.
Sheila and her husband Patrick, an Oxford history graduate, moved to a house in Windsor in 1984. Prior to that date, they had lived and worked in the London area and in Hull. Sheila, despite an early ambition to be an actress, qualified as a teacher at a London training college. As a teacher of English as a foreign language, she made visits with her students to the Tower of London and other tourist sites and these may have awakened her interest in history. Years later she was to confide to a journalist that she ‘hated history at school’. No doubt it was indigestible dates she found tiresome. Sheila was always a ‘people’ person.
In 1968, the Rooney family moved to Hull. Sheila was appointed Deputy Head of a large school in 1970, and in 1973 directed a school project on The Avenues, an Edwardian development where she lived. The research was published and Sheila joined the resident’s association. In 1976 she was elected to Hull Civic Society, becoming Chairman 1983-4. Her interest in the town led to the publication of three booklets which traced the history of Hull from earliest times. The worksheets, which combined fact with illustration in an imaginative way, were sold at cost price in large number by the Hull museums. She was preparing a children’s tourist guide, What to do in Yorkshire and Humberside when Patrick was moved to a London office.
It was typical of Sheila that, having heard as a new resident intriguing tales of a hermit and ruins on St Leonard’s Hill, she embarked on research into the history of the area. With infinite care she disentangled the history of St Leonard’s and St Leonard’s Hill, ‘two of the noblest houses in the County’, which even Pevsner had muddled, and in 1991 published St Leonard’s Hill Windsor, House, Hermitage and Hill. This lavishly illustrated book, which she co-wrote with Patrick, traced the hill’s history from medieval times to the twentieth century. It was a valuable addition to local history and the Windsor Local History Group was delighted when, following its publication, Sheila accepted an invitation to join the group.
In 1993, following the disastrous fire at Windsor Castle on 20th November 1992, she published Fires of Windsor Castle. Her story of the 1992 fire was based on unofficial accounts given to her by firemen on duty in Windsor that day. In the book she charted the survival of the castle throughout the centuries from previous fires. There had been a fire at the castle in March 1853 whilst Queen Victoria was in residence in the same area as the 1992 fire and it was interesting to compare the response. Sheila, with three other Soroptimists, had been responsible for the formation of the Windsor Association for Mental Health and in 1994, to raise funds for The Hub, a drop-in centre, Sheila wrote Century of the Wedding Dress to accompany the exhibition she had organised at Windsor Guildhall.
The Harcourt Journals and St Leonard’s Hill – The Memoirs and Diary of General Amédée and Sophia d’ Harcourt was published in 1998 by Sheila and Patrick Rooney. The diaries forming the basis of the book cover the period 1789-1809 and 1833-46 and are arranged in five parts, each of which has an excellent introduction to provide historical context. Amédée’s diary, which was written in French, required translating and both diaries required editing, but the final result reflected the authors’ keen observation and informed interest in historical and social affairs. Amédée’s diary contained a contemporary description of the trial of Patrick Emmett, a leading Irish nationalist, and in 2002 Sheila presented a copy to the Irish President, Mary McAleese, when she visited Windsor. It is now housed in the National Library in Dublin. In 2001, the Group’s major book Windsor: a Thousand Years was published and Sheila’s chapter on the Victorian period covered years of considerable development in the town. Her last publication, in 2002 and probably the most ambitious, was Windsor and Eton Centuries of Change. Breedon Publications gave her less than a year to write this book which has some 40,000 words and over 200 photographs, each with a caption of 100-200 words. It was received with acclaim and Sheila enjoyed signing copies at a Windsor bookshop.
Sheila died suddenly from a virulent strain of pneumonia just before Christmas 2003. In recent years she had bouts of ill-health and she was suffering from glaucoma. All this she brushed aside as she continued to lead a busy and well-organised life. She will be remembered by Windsor Local History Group members for her generous help. I benefited from her gift for visual presentation when preparing the Clewer Millennium Exhibition, and following the publication of her last book, Sheila had been assisting Kathie Whelan in the preparation of a book on Princess Christian’s work in nursing, with particular reference to Windsor. In 2001 Sheila and Patrick celebrated their golden wedding and they were proud of the achievements of their three children and eight grandchildren. In the wider sphere, Sheila will be remembered for her work for charity and public service. She served as Vice-Chairman of East Berks Community Health Council and was one of only two lay members of the Medical Ethics Committee. She worked hard and achieved a great deal. We all miss her cheerful presence.
Joyce Sampson
Windsor Local History Group 