Kerr’s people: Shira Cornwall; Jonathan Hakim; John Langton

Shira Cornwall

Take a classic educational background for a young English – sorry, Irish – woman. First go to St Paul’s School for Girls in London, which tops every league table and leaves the best boys’ schools looking as if they are caught in quicksand. Then move on to Clare College, Cambridge, developing your musical talents on the way. Take a high degree in English literature. The world is your oyster. Prominent positions in academe or music beckon.