Editing Lord Peter Wimsey (section)

===Early life===
Lord Peter is the second of the three children of Mortimer Wimsey, 15th [[Duke of Denver]], and Honoria Lucasta Delagardie, who lives on throughout the novels as the Dowager Duchess of Denver. She is witty and intelligent, and strongly supports her younger son, whom she plainly prefers over her less intelligent, more conventional older son [[Gerald Christian Wimsey, 16th Duke of Denver|Gerald]], the 16th Duke. Gerald's snobbish wife, Helen, detests Peter. Gerald's son and heir is the devil-may-care Viscount St George. Lady Mary, the younger sister of the 16th Duke, and of Lord Peter, leans strongly to the political left. At one time she planned to elope with a radical left agitator, and though this did not come about she did scandalise Helen by marrying a policeman of working-class origins.

Lord Peter Wimsey is called "Lord" as he is the younger son of a [[duke]]. This is a [[Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom|courtesy title]]; he is not a peer and has no right to sit in the House of Lords, nor does the courtesy title pass on to any offspring he may have.

As a boy, Peter was, to the great distress of his father, strongly attached to an old, smelly poacher living at the edge of the family estate. In his youth, Peter was influenced by his maternal uncle, Paul Delagardie, who took it upon himself to instruct his nephew in the facts of life – how to conduct various love affairs and treat his lovers. Lord Peter was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[Balliol College, Oxford]], graduating with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|first]]-class degree in history. He was also an outstanding cricketer, whose performance was still well remembered decades later. Though not taking up an academic career, he was left with an enduring and deep love for Oxford.