Editing Sue Townsend (section)

==Early life==
Townsend was born at the Maternity Hospital in Causeway Lane, [[Leicester]], the oldest of three sisters.<ref name="Williamson"/><ref name="Kellaway14"/> Her father had worked at a factory making [[jet engine]]s before becoming a [[postman]], while her mother worked in a factory canteen.<ref name="Telegraphobit">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10759737/Sue-Townsend-obituary.html Obituary: Sue Townsend], ''Daily Telegraph'', 11 April 2014</ref> She attended Glen Hills Primary School, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books.

At the age of eight, Townsend contracted [[mumps]], and was obliged to stay at home. Her mother bought a collection of [[Richmal Crompton]]'s [[Just William (book series)|Just William]] books at a [[jumble sale]] which Townsend read avidly. Later, she said the William Brown character was an influence on her best-known creation.<ref name="Williamson">Marcus Williamson [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sue-townsend-obituary-author-whose-hapless-brilliantly-drawn-teenage-hero-adrian-mole-made-her-the-bestselling-author-of-the-1980s-9255161.html "Sue Townsend obituary: Author whose hapless, brilliantly drawn teenage hero, Adrian Mole, made her the best selling author of the 1980s"], ''The Independent'', 11 April 2014</ref>

After failing her [[eleven plus exam|11-plus exam]], Townsend went to the secondary modern [[South Wigston High School]].<ref>
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/02/18/internationalwomensday_feature.shtml
 |title       = Leicester's leading ladies
 |publisher   = BBC
 |date        = 18 February 2005
|access-date  = 1 February 2008
|last        = Collier
 |first       = Kate
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060203222808/http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2005/02/18/internationalwomensday_feature.shtml
 |archive-date = 3 February 2006
|df          = dmy-all
}}
</ref> During her childhood, while up a tree playing with her peers, she witnessed the murder of a fellow schoolgirl, but the children were not believed.<ref name="Donald">Ann Donald [http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/to-meet-one-of-life-s-naturals-1.265883 "To meet one of life's naturals"], ''The Herald'', 23 October 1999</ref> The murder was committed by Joseph Christopher Reynolds (31), convicted at Leicester Assizes for the murder of Janet Warner, and hanged by Albert Pierrepoint on 17 November 1953. It was to be the last execution carried out at [[HM Prison Leicester|Leicester Prison]].