Early Life, Family and Training John Michael Skipper was born on 12 July 1815 in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He was the eldest son of John Skipper, a solicitor, and Jane, who was born Jane Stark. His upbringing was shaped by a family deeply connected to both the law and the arts. His uncle, James Stark, was a landscape painter and a member of the Norwich School of Landscape Painting, providing a quiet, artistic influence within the family circle. While his father intended for him to follow the legal path, John Michael Skipper’s education at Norwich Grammar School revealed a different set of…