 Her uncle was the ornithologist, conservationist and painter, Sir Peter Scott, who founded the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.Emily Young received her secondary education at Putney High School, Holland Park School, Friends School Saffron Walden and the King Alfred School, London.First interested in painting, she spent her youth in London, Wiltshire and Italy before she attended the Chelsea School of Art for one term in 1968 and also studied at Saint Martin's School of Art.