FAMILY photographs unearthed after the death of in inspirational teacher have given relatives a new insight into her remarkable life.

To the generations of pupils who sat in her classes at King James I School, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Peggy Preshous, who was 94 when she died in March, was the perfect role model and an elegant, stylish career woman

At home, she was a private person, who was reticent to talk about her experiences, even to her close relatives.

For the past 30 years, after retiring as headmistress of King James lower school, her only extravagance had been the foreign holidays she loved to take every few months.

It was only when her nephew, David Preshous, and his mother, Doris, cleared out Miss Preshous's home in Kenilworth Avenue that they found the pictorial record revealing the glamour and excitement she enjoyed in her early years.

She experienced early heartache when, in 1918, her soldier father was killed in action carrying a tiny black and white snap of his baby daughter in his pay book.

A bright student, she won a scholarship to Armstrong College, in Newcastle, and with extra support from older brothers, George and Fred, earned a BSc in geography and an MSc in modern science.

A natural athlete, she ran the 100 yards at the college games in 1931 and captained County Durham's women's hockey team.

A faded 1930s picture, taken at Scarborough, shows the Durham side facing a line-up of German hockey players, their arms held high in the Nazi salute, which was to become a chillingly familiar symbol of war.

She drove herself around Europe on adventurous holidays, always bringing back pictures of new friends and places she had visited.

Mr Preshous said: "We didn't know anything about this part of her life at all. To us she was a private, sensible lady, but there was obviously a big part of her life that she never talked about.

"The 1930s were her golden age. She would be in her 20s and she obviously had the time of her life visiting exotic places and making lots of friends."

Miss Preshous was head of the girls school at King James and took over at the lower school when boys and girls amalgamated under Dennis Weatherley.

Mr Preshous said: "She was an excellent teacher. She improved exam results and was strict, but very fair."