Pete Doherty - Early Life

Early Life

Doherty was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of Jacqueline (née Michels), a nurse and lance corporal, and Peter John Doherty, a major in the British Army. His paternal grandfather was Irish, from Cheekpoint, Waterford; his maternal grandfather was Jewish (the son of immigrants from France and Russia) and his maternal grandmother was of English descent. Doherty had a Catholic upbringing. He grew up at a number of army garrisons, due to his father's work, living at various times at garrisons in Catterick, Belfast, Wildenrath Barracks in the north west of Germany, Bedworth, Dorset, and Larnaca, along with his mother and two sisters, Amy Jo and Emily. Doherty was the second of the three children. It was while in Dorset, at the age of 11, that Doherty was first inspired to play guitar. He started playing in order to impress classmate Emily Baker whom he fancied. 18 years later they were reunited where the now Brighton based singer/songwriter won his support slot. He achieved 11 GCSEs, 7 of which were A* grades, at Nicholas Chamberlaine Comprehensive School in Bedworth and four passes at A Level, two at grade A. At the age of 16, he won a poetry competition and embarked on a tour of Russia organised by the British Council.

After his A-levels, he moved to his grandmother's flat in London – where he said he felt 'destined' to be — and got a job filling graves in Willesden Cemetery, although most of his time was spent reading and writing while sitting on gravestones. In a clip later made famous by YouTube, an eighteen-year old Doherty can be seen in an interview with MTV, on the day of the release of Oasis' Be Here Now album. He attended Queen Mary, part of the University of London, to study English literature, but left the course after his first year. After leaving university, he moved into a London flat with friend and fellow musician Carl Barât, who had been a classmate of Doherty's older sister at Brunel University.