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

Flora Bridge was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist serving the Southend area. She was born in Rochdale in 1906, where her father, John Hargreaves, was a commercial traveller selling flannel and clothing. Her mother, Flora, was a teacher. There were three children, Richard, Agnes and Flora,