Agnes Nugent (neé McDowty) was the mother of Emily Nugent. She lived in Harrogate where she raised her six children and tended to her husband James. She passed away when Emily was eleven years-old, leaving her daughter to shoulder the responsibilities she had in her role as a mother and homemaker.
Emily would carry fond memories of her mother for the rest of her life. In 2002 she had reflected on her mother to a young Adam Barlow who had lost his own mother Susan the previous year, telling him that she always thinks of her no matter how much time has passed.