Stephen John Darbishire was born on 1940. His father was a doctor whose forbears go back to the Norman invasion and include John Bright and more recently the Wordsworthian scholar Helen Darbishire. His mother was an accomplished singer whose family included artists and musicians, notably the celebrated Liverpudlian James Hamilton Hay.
On leaving school Stephen Darbishire trained under Da Fano and obtained a scholarship to the Byam Shaw School studying under Greenham and Garrard.
During his twenties Stephen travelled in Europe and later spent a year as a missionary in West Africa. He then explored the world of popular music where he met his wife Kerry, the great-great-niece of Frederick Delius.
