Bernie Taupin

 Taupin was born in Flatters House, a farmhouse situated between the village of Anwick and the town of Sleaford, in the southern part of Lincolnshire, England, the son of Robert Taupin and Daphne, daughter of John Leonard Palchett "Poppy" Cort and who was a Cambridge University-educated classics teacher and former rector at Sale, Greater Manchester (then considered to be part of Cheshire). His paternal grandparents were French and the Taupin family having come to London around the turn in the early 20th century to establish a wine-importing business. His father, who was educated in Dijon and was employed by a large farm in Market Rasen as a stockman. Taupin's mother stayed in Switzerland during the majority of WWII. She returned to London in 1947 and worked as a governess in the Taupin family. Robert Taupin was her husband. The couple then moved to Rowston Manor, where they were able to live rent-free because of Robert's rise to farm manager. It was an enormous leap from the Flatters farmhouse, which had no electricity.In 1959, the father of Taupin decided to go on a farm independently and his family relocated to the northern Lincolnshire village of Owmby-bySpital. There, they lived in the decrepit 10 acres Maltkiln Farm, the income came from battery-farming chickens to produce eggs. The home did not have heating or modern plumbing. Taupin's 11 year-old brother, Kit, was also born in the house. He left school at 15 and started working in the printing department of The Lincolnshire Standard as a trainee. His goal was to become a journalist. Taupin left the job in a short time and spent the rest of his teenage years with buddies, hopping on a bus along country roads to attend youth clubs in nearby villages, playing snooker at the Aston Arms pub in Market Rasen, and drinking. Taupin was already working part-time when he answered an advertisement for Elton John at the age of 17.