Editing Michael Tippett (section)

===Family background===
The Tippett family originated in [[Cornwall]]. Michael Tippett's grandfather, George Tippett, left the county in 1854 to make his fortune in London through property speculation and other business schemes. A flamboyant character, he had a strong tenor voice that was a popular feature at Christian revivalist meetings. In later life his business enterprises faltered, leading to debts, prosecution for fraud, and a term of imprisonment. His son Henry, born in 1858, was Michael's father. A lawyer by training, he was successful in business and was independently wealthy by the time of his marriage in April 1903.<ref>Kemp, pp. 1–3</ref> Unusually for his background and upbringing, Henry Tippett was a progressive liberal and a religious sceptic.<ref>Bowen, p. 15</ref>

Henry Tippett's bride was [[Isabel Kemp]], from a large [[Upper middle class|upper-middle-class]] family based in [[Kent]]. Among her mother's cousins was [[Charlotte Despard]], a well-known campaigner for women's rights, [[Suffragette|suffragism]], and [[Irish Home Rule movement|Irish home rule]]. Despard was a powerful influence on the young Isabel, who was herself briefly imprisoned after participating in an illegal suffragette protest in [[Trafalgar Square]]. Though neither she nor Henry was musical, she had inherited an artistic talent from her mother, who had exhibited at the [[Royal Academy]]. After their marriage the couple settled outside London in [[Eastcote]], where two sons were born—the second, Michael, on 2 January 1905.<ref>Kemp, pp.&nbsp;4–5</ref>