Gladys Arkwright was the caretaker at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall before Ena Sharples. 40-year-old Gladys's husband William Arkwright had died after only a year of marriage, leaving her with no children. Before Glad Tidings, she attended the Salvation Army chapel on Clarence Street. She lived in the single-room caretaker's accommodation known as the vestry. Gladys first appeared in Daran Little and Bill Hill's "Weatherfield Life", published in 1992. Other information is derived from Little's follow-up book, "Around the Coronation Street Houses".