Kate Hughes/Sugden
| Born
Katherine Hammond in Sheffield in October 195l Married 1st 1969: David Hughes separeted in 1984 and were divorced in 1986 Married 2nd: Joe Sugden 12 April 1989: Seperated 1991 Died: (off-screen) 30 July 1997 Mother of Rachel and Mark Hughes |
Played by Sally Knyvette | Appeared: 1988-1991 |
the following (in this white box) is a profile in the book "The Emmerdale Family Album" (by Michael Heatly and Published by Boxtree Paperback - 30 June, 1995 ):-
Born Katherine Hammond
in Sheffield in 195l, Kate married David Hughes in 1969 while still a teenager.
They had two children, Rachel and Mark, but although they travelled widely
around Britain and to
Germany and Cyprus, Kate ncvcr adapted to service life, which her husband
loved. Il' he had left the army while they were still married, they might
have stayed together. As it was. the couple split in 1984 and were divored
in 1986. She remained fond of David until his determined efforts to
break
up her sccond marriage, to Joe Sugden almost succeeded.
Kate moved to Hotten in August, 1988, following a desire to live out in the
country. This didn't suit her 'townie' children, but Kate decided she'd had
enough of living for other people and wanted to
please herself for once. She made her first home at the Mill in Connelton,
as Sandie Mcrrick's lodger.
Kate first met her future husband Joe while a waitress at the Feathers restaurant,
where he was dining with NY Estates' Denis
Rigg. They then met in the supermarket,
where Kate had a second job as a checkout girl. The pair argued on both occasions:
Joe later shot her dog, which was worrying sheep, and from that moment it seemed
they were destined to marry. Joe was the only guest to turn up to Kate's birthday
party in October 1988 - and uninvited, at that! They started meeting in secret
and Kate stayed at the farm for two weeks that Christmas while Mark and Rachel
were with their father in Germany.
Soon after, despite opposition from the children, they all moved into Emmerdale
Farm and the two were married in April 1989 at St Mary's Church. Donald
Hinton at first refused to marry two divorcees. He eventually relented because it
meant so much to them - particularly to Kate, whose first wedding service had
been in a register office -though she and Joe were reluctant churchgoers both
before and since.
After overcoming much difficulty, particularly with her son and ex-husband,
1990 began on an optimistic note for Kate when she fell pregnant, after
initially being reluctant to tie herself down to bringing up another child.
David disappeared
from the scene after a final shotgun showdown with them, but her miscarriage
in May was a major blow to Kate and Joe - and to Mark, who was convinced,
wrongly,
that his arrest for shoplifting was the cause.
Kate had given up her jobs at the supermarket and the
Feathers soon after moving into Emmerdale and fitted into life on the farm
very well. She liked to be
considered a farmer rather than a farmer's wife and, up to her pregnancy, did
all the farming jobs she could manage, including clearing rocks - by hand -
from her two acres of organic land at Crossgill, where she grew kale (a cabbage-like
vegetable). Despite her marriage, she remained fiercely independent and quite
prepared to take issue with Joe, as she did when he and Matt made fun of organic
farming.
A handy horserider, Kate also drove both her own Escort estate and farm vehicles
though Joe wouldn't let her drive the combine harvester. She was quite happy
to drink pints with Joe in the Woolpack, where
she expected to be served with a man's glass.
Yet it was the combination of drinking and driving that led to tragedy in August
1990. Driving home from a night out with an old friend Fran, she knocked down
and killed Pete Whiteley on the Robblesfield Road. Arrested and charged with
death by reckless driving, she duly received a custodial sentence in October.
Having been released from prison, she told Joe in August 1991 that their marriage
was finally over.
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