 Having lost her father at an early age, she spent much of her childhood at her grandfather's house, where she became a favourite of her uncles.They attended a lodge in an unused chapel above Catherine's school-room, which she often helped them clean.As a teenager, Catherine Sweet (Babington being her married name) attended lodge meetings for a year, hiding in the old pulpit, finally being discovered when one of her uncles returned unexpectedly for a rifle he had left in the ante-room.