Peter Sinfield - Early Life

Early Life

Sinfield was born at Fulham, London, to mixed English-Irish ancestry and a bohemian, activist, bisexual mother Deidre (also known as Joey or Daphne). He seldom had contact with his father Ian. Up until the age of eight, he was raised largely by his mother's German housekeeper Maria Wallenda, a high wire walker from the circus act The Flying Wallendas, after which he was sent to Danes Hill School in Oxshott. It was there that Sinfield discovered a love of words and their use and meanings, with the guidance of his tutor John Mawson. He came to devour books of all kinds, especially poetry. He left school at sixteen and worked briefly as a travel agent, believing that this would "allow him to see the world". He then went on to work for a computer company for six years, travelling around Europe when he could and hanging around with friends from the Chelsea School of Art. To compete with his art school friends, Sinfield began learning to play the guitar, and write poetry in the mid 1960s, and made a living on market stalls selling handmade kites, lampshades, paintings and customised clothing. He spent a number of years drifting around Morocco and Spain before returning to England. Sometime in 1967, he started a band that did not have a lasting future, but one of the members was Ian McDonald, who was impressed with Sinfield’s talents as a lyricist, if not his abilities as a singer or guitarist.