Edward Elgar

Sir Edward Elgar was born in Broadheath, Worcestershire. His father owned a shop there that sold sheet music and musical instruments.

Apart from having violin lessons Elgar was self-taught. He studied the printed music in his father’s shop and often traveled with him when he went on his rounds to tune pianos.

When Elgar was 29, he took on a pupil, Caroline Alice Roberts, a published author of verse and prose fiction. Alice became his wife three years later. From then until her death she acted as his business manager and social secretary,