Bernie Taupin - Birth and Childhood

Birth and Childhood

Much of Taupin's childhood is reflected in his lyrics and poetry. He was born at Flatters Farmhouse which is located between the village of Anwick and the town of Sleaford in the southern part of Lincolnshire, England. Of French ancestry, his father was educated in Dijon and was employed as a stockman by a large farm estate near the town of Market Rasen, and his mother worked as a nanny, having previously lived in Switzerland. The family later moved to Rowston Manor, a significant step up from Flatters Farmhouse, which had no electricity.

Taupin's father decided to try his hand at independent farming and the family moved again, to the run-down Maltkiln Farm. in the north-Lincolnshire village of Owmby-by-Spital. Taupin's 11-year younger brother, Kit, was born here.

Bernie attended school at Market Rasen Secondary Modern. Unlike his older brother Tony who attended a grammar school (secondary school), Taupin was not a diligent student, although he showed an early flair for writing. At age 15, he left school and started work as a trainee in the print room of the local newspaper The Lincolnshire Standard with aspirations to be a journalist. He soon left and spent the rest of his teenage years hanging out with friends, hitchhiking the country roads to attend youth club dances in the surrounding villages, playing snooker in the Aston Arms Pub in Market Rasen and drinking. He had worked at several part-time, dead-end jobs when, at age 17, he answered the advertisement that eventually led to his collaboration with Elton John.