Editing Ralph Vaughan Williams (section)

===Early years===
Vaughan Williams was born at [[Down Ampney]], [[Gloucestershire]], the third child and younger son of the Reverend Arthur Vaughan Williams (1834–1875), the [[vicar]], and his wife, Margaret, ''née'' Wedgwood (1842–1937).<ref name=dnb>Frogley, Alain. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36636 "Williams, Ralph Vaughan (1872–1958)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154226/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36636 |date=24 September 2015 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 10 October 2015 {{ODNBsub}}</ref>{{refn|His siblings were Hervey (1869–1944) and Margaret (Meggie, 1870–1931).<ref>Vaughan Williams (1964), pp. 6–7</ref>|group= n}} His paternal forebears were of mixed English and Welsh descent; many of them went into the law or [[Church of England|the Church]]. The judges [[Edward Vaughan Williams|Sir Edward]] and [[Roland Vaughan Williams|Sir Roland Vaughan Williams]] were respectively Arthur's father and brother.<ref name=archive/> Margaret Vaughan Williams was a great-granddaughter of [[Josiah Wedgwood]] and niece of [[Charles Darwin]].{{refn|Margaret's father was [[Josiah Wedgwood III]], grandson of the potter; he married his cousin, Caroline Darwin, sister of Charles Darwin.<ref name=archive>Howes, Frank. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/36636 "Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1872–1958)"], ''Dictionary of National Biography'' Archive, Oxford University Press, 1971, retrieved 10 October 2015 {{ODNBsub}}</ref>|group= n}}

[[File:Leith Hill Place.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Exterior of quite large country house in extensive gardens|[[Leith Hill Place]], Surrey, Vaughan Williams's childhood home]]
Arthur Vaughan Williams died suddenly in February 1875, and his widow took the children to live in her family home, Leith Hill Place, [[Wotton, Surrey]].<ref name=chron/> The children were under the care of a nurse, Sara Wager, who instilled in them not only polite manners and good behaviour but also liberal social and philosophical opinions.<ref>Vaughan Williams (1964) p. 11</ref> Such views were consistent with the progressive-minded tradition of both sides of the family. When the young Vaughan Williams asked his mother about Darwin's controversial book ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', she answered, "The Bible says that God made the world in six days. Great Uncle Charles thinks it took longer: but we need not worry about it, for it is equally wonderful either way".<ref>Vaughan Williams (1964), p. 13</ref>

In 1878, at the age of five, Vaughan Williams began receiving piano lessons from his aunt, Sophy Wedgwood. He displayed signs of musical talent early on, composing his first piece of music, a four-bar piano piece called "The Robin's Nest", in the same year. He did not greatly like the piano, and was pleased to begin violin lessons the following year.<ref name=chron>De Savage, pp. xvii–xx</ref><ref name=k11>Kennedy (1980), p. 11</ref> In 1880, when he was eight, he took a correspondence course in music from [[Edinburgh University]] and passed the associated examinations.<ref name=k11/>

In September 1883 he went as a boarder to Field House [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] in [[Rottingdean]] on the south coast of England, {{convert|40|mi|km|spell=in}} from Wotton. He was generally happy there, although he was shocked to encounter for the first time social snobbery and political conservatism, which were rife among his fellow pupils.<ref>Vaughan Williams (1964), p. 24</ref> From there he moved on to the [[public school (United Kingdom)|public school]] [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse]] in January 1887. His academic and sporting achievements there were satisfactory, and the school encouraged his musical development.<ref>Kennedy (1980), pp. 12–13; and Vaughan Williams (1964), pp. 25–27</ref> In 1888 he organised a concert in the school hall, which included a performance of his G major Piano Trio (now lost) with the composer as violinist.<ref name=chron/>

While at Charterhouse Vaughan Williams found that religion meant less and less to him, and for a while he was an [[atheism|atheist]]. This softened into "a cheerful [[agnosticism]]",<ref name=u29/> and he continued to attend church regularly to avoid upsetting the family. His views on religion did not affect his love of the [[King James Version|Authorised Version of the Bible]], the beauty of which, in the words of his widow [[Ursula Vaughan Williams]] in her 1964 biography of the composer, remained "one of his essential companions through life."<ref name=u29>Vaughan Williams (1964), p. 29</ref> In this, as in many other things in his life, he was, according to his biographer [[Michael Kennedy (music critic)|Michael Kennedy]], "that extremely English product the natural nonconformist with a conservative regard for the best tradition".<ref>Kennedy (1980), p. 43</ref>