The daughter of a physician, William Cecil Sharpe and grand-daughter of Sir John Brigg (for many years Liberal MP for Keighley), Dorothy was born in the Red House, Darley Dale, Matlock, on 16 February 1903, close to Smedley's Hydro and the Royal Hotel used for the treatment of rheumatism and allied diseases in which her father specialised. After attending Skipton Grammar School she was at Roedean until 1923 when she entered the London School of Medicine for Women (RFH). Her training posts were mostly held in the South London Hospital for women, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and the Royal Free Hospital, where she became assistant obstetrician and gynaecologist. During the second world war she served in the EMS at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital. She was elected Borough Councillor (Labour) for Marylebone, 1945-48, and was Governor of St Martin's High School for Girls, Tulse Hill, 1946. She was forced to retire from active work in 1952 because of rheumatoid arthritis, which she bore with great fortitude. In 1963 she served on the managing committee of the Horder Centre for Arthritics, Crowborough. Before the second world war she enjoyed skating, combined with a love for painting and gardening. She died on 13 June 1978.