ABOUT LAURA MARLING
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Born 1 February, 1990 to Charles and Judi Marling, Laura Beatrice Marling was raised in Eversley, a small town (population 829) in Hampshire 35 kilometers from where Jane Austen was born. Marling attended school at Leighton Park in Reading, Berkshire.
Tom Lamont, writing for The Guardian related that: "The [Marling] family lived on a farm near Wokingham and Charlie ran a small recording studio there. In 1988 Liverpool band The La's came to stay, recording their famed anthem, 'There She Goes', on site. When Laura was six months old Black Sabbath pitched up."
She has two older sisters, one of them named Georgina. Marling's father, Charles William Somerset Marling, an amateur singer-songwriter, began teaching Marling the guitar when she was 3 years old. She wrote her first songs, inspired by The Libertines, when she was 13. The first record Laura Marling ever bought (according to a 2010 NY Times interview) was by Macy Gray. Her father then insisted she listen to some 'good music', and played her lots of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. Marling plays the bass and piano, and owns (and possibly can play) a dulcimer. At the age of 16, with her parents' permission, she left school and went to London to launch her singing career.
Marling told Sydney freelance writer Lynden Barber that her finger picking style is "exactly like [dad] plays guitar. That's the only way I've learned." Her father's style, she continues, is "...not wildly left of centre, but it's quite distinct. I don't know many people who play guitar like him. When I go home we get our guitars out and he shows me things he's come up with. In a way I owe him a lot more credit than he's had.".
In London, a friend arranged a gig for her with a country band led by Winston Marshall, who is now part of Mumford and Sons. At that time, Marshall ran a 'club night' in London and Marling became part of it. There she met Charlie Fink, who was looking for a female backup singer for Noah and the Whale. Marling joined Noah and the Whale and recorded one album ('Peaceful the World Lays Me Down') with them in 2008, before going solo.
Marling now lives in Stoke Newington in northwest London with her boyfriend George Jephson whom she met after returning to England after a brief stay Los Angeles. Their daughter Maudie was born at home in 2023. In 2024, Marling completed a master's degree in psychoanalysis. She is now pregnant with her second child.
Etymology of the Name
'Laura' comes from the Latin Masculine name Laurus (laurel). Laura was also the woman addressed in the poetry of Petrarch, whose actual identity has never been conclusively established. Some suggest she was Laura de Noves, whom the poet first met in Avignon. Framce in 1327.
'Marling' in nautical terms, is another way of saying 'marline', a "a light rope, usually tarred, made of two strands laid left-handed". The name might also be derived from Merlin, meaning 'a small, bold falcon'.
Sir Charles William Somerset Marling
Marling's father is the 5th Baronet of The Marling Baronetcy (Stanley Park and Sedbury Park) in the County of Gloucester It was created on 22 May 1882 for the cloth manufacturer and Liberal politician Samuel Marling. The second Baronet served as High Sheriff of Gloucester in 1888. The third Baronet was a Colonel in the Army and was awarded the Victoria Cross.
A Baronet is addressed as 'Sir', but ranks above all knighthoods except the Order of the Garter and the Scottish Order of the Thistle. A baronetcy can only be passed on to a male heir.