Gladys M. Cohen was born in London on February 21 1907.
Prodigiously gifted musically, she entered the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1923 at the age of 16, under the name GUIRNE CREITH, to study Composition, Viola and Piano. She studied there until 1929, winning numerous and prestigious prizes for composition (see Royal Academy page for details). She continued her piano studies with the renowned Swiss pianist, and interpreter of Bach, Edwin Fischer (1886 - 1960).
In 1940 she married Walter Hunter Coddington (1907 - 1994) by whom she had two sons Robin (1940 -) and Jeremy (1943 -)