Brian Epstein

His grandmother Dinah was the daughter of Joseph, a draper, and Esther Hyman, who had emigrated from Russia to Britain (circa 1871/72) with their eldest son Jacob.

The Hymans had six other children.

Epstein's grandfather, Isaac Epstein, was Lithuanian-Jewish, arriving in Britain in the 1890s from what was then part of the Russian Empire at the age of eighteen.

Isaac Epstein married Dinah Hyman in Manchester in 1900.

In 1901, Isaac and Dinah were living at 80 Walton Road, Liverpool, with Isaac's sister Rachael Epstein, above the furniture dealership that he founded.

Dinah and Isaac's third child, Harry Epstein, would become Brian Epstein's father.

Eventually the family moved to a larger home in the Anfield area of Liverpool at 27 Anfield Road.

After Harry and his brother Leslie had joined the family firm, Isaac Epstein founded Epstein and Sons.

He then enlarged the furniture business by taking over adjacent shops at 62/72 Walton Road to sell a range of other goods, such as musical instruments and household appliances.

They called the expanding business NEMS (North End Music Stores), which offered lenient credit terms.

Paul McCartney's father once bought a piano from them.

Epstein's mother Malka (nicknamed "Queenie" by her family, as Malka means "queen" in Hebrew) was also involved in the Hyman furniture business, which also owned the Sheffield Veneering Company.

Harry and Queenie married in 1933.

Brian Samuel Epstein ( 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.

Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him in charge of their music shop, where he displayed a gift for talent-spotting.

Brian Epstein was born on 19 September 1934 in 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool.

Harry and Queenie also had another son named Clive, who was born 22 months after his older brother.

During World War II the Epsteins moved to Southport, where two schools expelled Epstein for laziness and poor performance, but returned to Liverpool in 1945.

The Epsteins lived at 197 Queens Drive, Childwall in Liverpool, and remained there for the next 30 years.

The family was aided by a live-in nanny.

Epstein's parents moved him from one boarding school to another, including Clayesmore School in Dorset, Liverpool College, and a Jewish school in Kent.

He spent two years at Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, where he was taught the violin.

At Wrekin, Epstein suffered from the strict culture, possibly in part as a result of his suppressed homosexuality.

Epstein fell in love with the arts, particularly theatre, and it was his one consistently successful school subject.

His favourite book as a child was Pamela Brown's The Swish of the Curtain.

In December 1952, Epstein was conscripted to do his national service as a data entry clerk into the Royal Army Service Corps, and was posted to the Albany Street Barracks near Regent's Park in London in spring 1953, where he was often reprimanded for not collecting his army pay.

Epstein used this posting to explore London's high culture for the first time and also visited local relatives.

By January 1954, Epstein had seen numerous Army psychiatrists, who recommended an early medical discharge.

After returning to Liverpool, he was put in charge of the Clarendon Furnishing shop in Hoylake and in 1955 was made a director of NEMS.

In September 1956, he took a trip to London to meet a friend but after being there for only one day, was robbed of his passport, birth certificate, chequebook, wristwatch, and all the money he had in his possession.

He did not want his parents to find out, so he worked as a department store clerk until he had earned enough money to buy a train ticket back to Liverpool.

On returning home he confessed his homosexuality to a psychiatrist—a friend of the Epstein family—who suggested to Harry Epstein that his son should leave Liverpool as soon as possible.

He first met the Beatles in 1961 at a lunchtime concert at Liverpool's Cavern Club.

Although he had no experience of artist management, Epstein put them under contract and insisted that they abandon their scruffy image in favour of a new clean-cut style.

He also attempted to get the Beatles a recording contract, eventually securing a deal with EMI's Parlophone label.

Within months, the Beatles were international stars.

Some of Epstein's other young discoveries had also prospered under his management.

They included Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Tommy Quickly, Cilla Black and The Big Three.

In 1967, he died of a combined alcohol and barbiturate overdose, ruled as accidental, at the age of 32.

Shortly before his 16th birthday he sent a long letter to his father stating that he wanted to become a dress designer, but Harry Epstein was adamantly opposed, and after serving a six months' apprenticeship at another company his son finally had to "report for duty" at the family's furniture shop on a £5 per week wage.