Mrs Dewhurst was the wife of John Dewhurst and the daughter-in-law of butcher Harold Dewhurst. The latter had been the talk of the street for several months for his friendship with widow Annie Walker. The two had been on a cruise but on her return Annie had been uncharacteristically reluctant to discuss it. Harold stopped calling at the pub and rumours spread that he had been seen with another woman. When he brought his daughter-in-law into the Rovers to discuss problems she was having with her husband, Billy Walker assumed he was playing around with his mother's affections and threw them both out before they could explain. The next day Harold returned with an angry John who confronted Billy with the truth. His mother also told him that on the cruise they had drifted apart from each other and taken up with other people with no blame attached.