Jane was born at the end of the Second World War in Grantham Lincolnshire (birthplace of Margaret Thatcher) to Company Sargent Major Hubert Oliver Pateman and Phyllis May Pateman. Jane’s Father was a founder member of The Airborne and saw service in Italy, Sicily Germany and Arnhem. Jane’s parents were posted to Singapore and later to Malta.
Jane’s parents wanted her to have an ‘English’ education so she went to the Royal Soldiers Daughters School and was educated at Haverstock, one of the first Comprehensive Schools – the Miliband brothers later went to this school. Jane often says that this is why she is able to see both sides of political arguments!
After the war her father serviced in the REME and was stationed in Arborfield where the family visited Basingstoke when it was a small town. The family always felt at home in Hampshire but had problems finding a home in the area so Jane’s father became a publican in Middlesex and it was here that Jane met and married her husband Kenneth in April 1966.
The pull of Basingstoke meant that Jane and Ken lived for a while near Tadley and both worked at Lansing Bagnal, Ken as a sheet metal worker and Jane in the offices. They moved to Basingstoke in 1968 and had two children, Paul born in 1970 and Tony in 1972. Jane was a stay at home mum for a while, she wanted her children to have a parent at home as the stay away from her family at boarding
school had not been a happy time. One year the family wanted to have a holiday so Ken encouraged Jane to go to work for a few weeks. Jane started work as an evening cleaner at Basingstoke Hospital and went on ‘days’, with most of her years on the Children’s Ward, when their boys were older and attending The Vyne School.
It was nearly 28 years later in 2001 when Jane retired on medical grounds after an injury at work that left her disabled. During her time at the hospital Jane was a Shop Steward and developed an interest in the community and knew that she wanted to make a difference and give people better and more fulfilling lives.
Leaving school with no qualifications, now disabled and with a hearing impairment Jane was elected as a Councillor to the ward of Popley in 1998 and as a County Councillor in 2001 for Basingstoke North which is made up of Popley and Oakridge.
Jane’s parents wanted her to have an ‘English’ education so she went to the Royal Soldiers Daughters School and was educated at Haverstock, one of the first Comprehensive Schools – the Miliband brothers later went to this school. Jane often says that this is why she is able to see both sides of political arguments!
After the war her father serviced in the REME and was stationed in Arborfield where the family visited Basingstoke when it was a small town. The family always felt at home in Hampshire but had problems finding a home in the area so Jane’s father became a publican in Middlesex and it was here that Jane met and married her husband Kenneth in April 1966.
The pull of Basingstoke meant that Jane and Ken lived for a while near Tadley and both worked at Lansing Bagnal, Ken as a sheet metal worker and Jane in the offices. They moved to Basingstoke in 1968 and had two children, Paul born in 1970 and Tony in 1972. Jane was a stay at home mum for a while, she wanted her children to have a parent at home as the stay away from her family at boarding
school had not been a happy time. One year the family wanted to have a holiday so Ken encouraged Jane to go to work for a few weeks. Jane started work as an evening cleaner at Basingstoke Hospital and went on ‘days’, with most of her years on the Children’s Ward, when their boys were older and attending The Vyne School.
It was nearly 28 years later in 2001 when Jane retired on medical grounds after an injury at work that left her disabled. During her time at the hospital Jane was a Shop Steward and developed an interest in the community and knew that she wanted to make a difference and give people better and more fulfilling lives.
Leaving school with no qualifications, now disabled and with a hearing impairment Jane was elected as a Councillor to the ward of Popley in 1998 and as a County Councillor in 2001 for Basingstoke North which is made up of Popley and Oakridge.
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