Sylvia EMMETT was born at about 7am on 14 October 1935 at 3 Belford Terrace, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, the second daughter of Christopher Harrison EMMETT and his wife, Elizabeth EMMETT nee MASTERMAN. At the time of Sylvia’s birth, her parents were staying with her maternal grandmother, who had been widowed about three months previously. According to the account of her birth written by her mother, she weighed about ten and a half pounds, and was nicknamed “Crumpy” by her elder sister, had silver hair and was extremely pretty.
Sylvia was christened at Walker Parish Church when she was about two weeks old, and on the day after the christening the EMMETT family moved back to their own flat at 242 Grace Street, Byker. In about February 1936 they moved to 97 Morley Street, Byker. We do not know anything about the period between their move to Morley Street and July 1938, but by the latter date they were living at 233 Harbottle Street, Byker.
At some stage during the second World War (1939 – 1945) she was evacuated with her elder sister
Elizabeth Anne to a house at Wolsingham, County Durham. The two children stayed there for two or three years, from about 1940 to about 1943. Sylvia started attending the local primary school, but by about 1944 she was attending Bolam Street School, Byker. In June 1945 the EMMETT family moved to 27 Mindrum Terrace, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sylvia was an extremely intelligent girl. At the age of 11 years, she passed a scholarship examination and began to attend Heaton High School, Newton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne. She was not happy there however, and was moved to Middle Street School, Newcastle, which she attended until she was 16 years old.
Sylvia started working as a shop assistant in “The Meadow Dairy”, Church Street, Newcastle. On 31 March 1956 at Walker Parish Church she married Michael MOONEY, and moved to 136 Walker Road, Byker, where two sons were born to them: Michael born in 1956 and Christopher, born in 1958.
Sometime in 1963 Sylvia and Mike moved with their children to a newly-built block of flats called “The Sycamores”, Cruddas Park Estate, Newcastle upon Tyne, where they lived on the eleventh floor. Mike worked throughout their married life as a paint sprayer in a car repair shop, and Sylvia worked occasionally in a shop, as a market researcher, as a waitress in a cafe, and as a professional knitter. In June 2001, their two sons by then married and living away from home, they moved to Hadrian Court, Killingworth, where they lived on the ground floor.
Sylvia’s life revolved around her family and friends. She maintained contact with a wide circle of acquaintance by telephone. 
She became a member of MENSA sometime in the early 1990s. Whenever any member of the extended family visited Newcastle, it was to Sylvia that they first communicated the news of the impending visit, and to her house that they first made their way. She was in fact the centre of our family – the hub around which all of us revolved.
She read incessantly but not widely – mainly newspapers and magazines - and could discuss any and every topic of current interest. She was a Conservative voter throughout her life, inclined to be reactionary in her views, kind-hearted and generous to a fault. She would, as her mother put it, “Give you the coat off her back.” She had a great sense of humour. She smoked fairly heavily until she was about fifty years old, when she gave it up completely.
Throughout most of her life she was overweight. During the course of one year (sometime in the early 1970s) she was hypnotised and lost about eight stones in weight. She was very slim for a while, but the fat soon came back and with age Sylvia became increasingly immobile. 
Her weight was a source of constant unhappiness, but apart from that she enjoyed robust health throughout her life. She enjoyed driving her car, shopping, talking to her family and friends, doing crosswords (and showing off her general knowledge, which was phenomenal). Sylvia had that elusive quality called “charm” which made time spent in her company a pleasure to all who knew her.
Sylvia became ill in November 2001. She went to see her doctor complaining of a pain in her left arm extending into the ribs and back on the left side. She saw a physiotherapist over the next two or three months, but the agonising pain she was suffering continued, and she decided to have a scan done. This showed “massive arthritic damage” to her spine, and on 19 March Sylvia was admitted to hospital. She died on 13 April 2002, the cause of death being “myeloma”. About a hundred people attended her funeral: her family and friends mourn and miss her still.
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