Ruth Jackson was born Ellen-Ruth Werner in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany on 13 June 1926. Her father was Jewish and her mother converted. Her mother's maiden name was Hill (but no known English ancestors). Her parents came from Berlin to Eberswalde in the early 1920s. Her father was a chartered accountant who worked for a local Town hall and big Insurance Companies in Berlin. In 1933 he was thrown out of the Town Hall. He moved back to Berlin. Ruth was thrown out of local school and attended Theodor Herzl School. She was sent on the Kindertransport in July 1939 and attended St Christopher's School, Letchworth and Westhill College, Birmingham. Her Father had a lethal injection in the Jewish Hospital, Berlin 1942. Her mother and sister hid and survived. Ruth married Alan Jackson (also German refugee) in 1946, and had 3 children. They founded several nursery schools.