Editing Thomas Beecham (section)

===Early years===
[[File:BeechamsBuilding.jpg|thumb|right|alt=exterior of nineteenth century industrial building|The Beecham factory in St Helens]]
Beecham was born in [[St Helens, Merseyside|St Helens]], Lancashire (now Merseyside), in a house adjoining the [[Beecham's Pills]] laxative factory founded by his grandfather, [[Thomas Beecham (chemist)|Thomas Beecham]].<ref name=reid19>Reid, p. 19</ref> His parents were [[Sir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet|Joseph Beecham]], the elder son of Thomas, and Josephine, ''née'' Burnett.<ref name=reid19/> In 1885, with the family firm flourishing financially, Joseph Beecham moved his family to a large house in Ewanville, [[Huyton]], near [[Liverpool]]. Their former home was demolished to make room for an extension to the pill factory.<ref>Lucas, p. 6</ref>

Beecham was educated at [[Rossall School]] between 1892 and 1897, after which he hoped to attend a music conservatoire in Germany, but his father forbade it, and instead Beecham went to [[Wadham College, Oxford]] to read [[Classics]].<ref>Reid, pp. 25–27</ref>  He did not find university life to his taste and successfully sought his father's permission to leave Oxford in 1898.<ref name=reid27>Reid, p. 27</ref> He studied as a pianist but, despite his excellent natural talent and fine technique, he had difficulty because of his small hands, and any career as a soloist was ruled out by a wrist injury in 1904. <ref name=dnb>Jefferson, Alan. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30670 "Beecham, Sir Thomas, second baronet (1879–1961)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2016 {{ODNBsub}}</ref><ref>Lucas, p. 144</ref> He studied composition with [[Frederic Austin]] in Liverpool, [[Charles Wood (composer)|Charles Wood]] in London, and [[Moritz Moszkowski]] in Paris.{{#tag:ref|Beecham had first approached [[Charles Villiers Stanford]], but Stanford did not take private pupils.<ref name=lucas18>Lucas, pp. 12 and 18</ref> [[André Messager]] recommended Beecham to study with Moszkowski.<ref>Beecham (1959), p. 52</ref>|group= n}} As a conductor, he was self-taught.<ref name=grove>Crichton, Ronald, and John Lucas. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/02507 "Beecham, Sir Thomas"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online. Retrieved 13 March 2011 {{subscription}}</ref>