A Skipton woman who shared the role of head girl with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher because their headteacher could not choose between them has died, aged 85.

Emily Madeline Hellaby was born on March 14 1925 in Sheffield, but subsequently moved to Lincoln and then to Grantham, where she studied at Kesteven Grantham Girls School.

In her final year, she was briefly made joint head girl with Margaret Thatcher.

From 1944 to 1946 she served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) and after returning to civilian life gained a Social Studies Diploma from Birmingham University.

From October 1948 to November 1949 she worked as a housemistress at Shermanbury Grange Senior Girls Approved School, and then as housemistress and teacher at Gaveston Hall in Nuthurst, near Horsham.

On September 5 1953 she married the Rev William Hellaby, a minister in the Unitarian Church. The stirring tale of how they, Billy’s father, and a number of their friends accepted the Bahá’í Faith, is fully recounted in her book “O My Brother”, which was published in 2006.

Madeline, Billy and their three boys Charles, Mark and Julian all attended the first Bahá’í World Congress in London in 1963, after which they devoted themselves to serving the faith in various ways.

They were involved in a series of pioneering moves by the Universal House of Justice, which saw Bahá’í Local Spiritual Assemblies formed in various places, including Skipton.

In addition to serving on various local assemblies and regional committees, Madeline acted from 1977 to 1990 as a member of the Bahá’í Auxiliary Board, serving on both the protection and propagation arms of the institution.

In 1992 she was among those invited to participate on behalf of the UK Bahá’í community in the centenary commemoration in Haifa of the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh.

Latterly, she made an impression as a Bahá’í author, writing a total of four books, and Craven residents also had a chance to savour her writing style in the regular contributions she made to the Craven Herald’s “clergy column”.

In addition to her service to the Bahá’í Faith, Madeline made a mark on the civic life of Skipton in diverse respects, participating for many years in the International Club, where her slide presentation on the amusing interactions of two Siamese cats and a Tibetan spaniel was a special favourite.

Her sons Charles, Mark and Julian, all of whom became Bahá’ís, have gone on to follow careers respectively in science, literature and music.

Madeline was a much loved and respected member of the local and Bahá’í communities, renowned for her resolve, determination, efficiency, dedication and stalwart faith, and standing in many people’s eyes as a model of what can be achieved by a mother and a housewife.

A funeral service was held on Monday at Waltonwrays Cemetery, Skipton.