Joan Sutcliffe

The origin of the business was stall in Bradford market which she ran with her husband, the late Mr George Sutcliffe.

Mrs Sutcliffe, the daughter of Mr Laurence Holbrook, a master butcher in Sharlston, Wakefield, went to school locally, leaving at 16 without having made much of an academic mark. But she did love reading, and at her death left enough biographies to fill 40 boxes.

The Holbrook family took their holidays in Blackpool, and it was there that the 17-year-old Miss Holbrook met and fell in love with the landlady’s married son. Seventeen years her senior, Mr George Sutcliffe was urbane and good looking, and he had fought in the Spanish civil war and with the Chindits in Burma.

He left his wife and followed his new love to Sharlston, where Mr Holbrook threatened him with a shot gun, telling him to leave his daughter alone.

Independent-minded and very strong-willed, she would have none of it, and eloped with her husband-to-be to Bradford.

They made their living buying trinkets and curiosities and antiques which they sold in Bradford market, “going on the knocker” in and around the city in the hope of purchasing bargains.

She was very successful, and in the late 40s the couple were doing well enough to set up a shop, called Sutcliffe’s Corner, on Leeds Road. Bradford. The business went steadily up market and began to specialise in Victorian paintings. London dealers now came into their orbit and Mrs Sutcliffe’s only problem was parting with the pictures she wanted to keep.

In the 50s, Mr and Mrs Sutcliffe set off for a holiday in the Dales but got lost and found themselves in Appletreewick where they saw a cottage for rent.

They liked it so much that they returned for regular weekend breaks, and in 1956, when the owner was ready to sell, they bought it for £200. It was in a row of three, and in due course they bought the other two, knocking the three cottages into a decent-sized house.

Having sold Sutcliffe’s Corner, it was from there that they carried out their business, filling the rooms with pictures, amongst which Mrs Sutcliffe brought up their son and two daughters.

Clients arrived at the little Dales village from London, Europe and the States, often bringing the children little gifts.

In 1971, Mr and Mrs Sutcliffe set up Sutcliffe’s Galleries in Albert Street, Harrogate, earning a reputation as one of the North’s leading dealers in Victorian paintings, and winning the loyalty of many wealthy clients, and regularly selling at London and New York auction houses.

Mrs Sutcliffe, a slight woman of only 5ft, was able to indulge her taste for fine clothes and smart fast cars.

She and her husband were both self-taught, having received little formal education, yet were able to send their three children to private schools – their son, Gary, to Rishworth School, and their daughters Hilary and Elizabeth to Casterton School.

In the 60s, they had holidays on luxury cruise liners, and in 1975, while it was still a relatively unknown holiday destination, they went to the Seychelles.

While she tended to polarise opinions – she was feisty, knew her one mind and did not hesitate expressing it – her love of art was contagious, and those who got on with her found her exhilarating company.

Mr Sutcliffe died in 1975 after a long illness through which Mrs Sutcliffe nursed him, and following his death, she and their son continued to build up the business until her retirement in 2000, Mr Gary Sutcliffe and his wife, Mrs Helen Sutcliffe continuing to run it, and her granddaughter Antonia, inheriting her entrepreneurial spirit, has a modern gallery in the town

Last year, Mrs Joan Sutcliffe moved to Bath to be with family.

She is survived by her three children and five grandchildren.