[3][4] Christian's paternal grandfather, Edward, Baron von Schunck, had been born in Leipzig, part of an old German family that had, since 1715, held a Barony in the Holy Roman Empire (Freiherr).
Kate survived him until 1913, the eve of the First World War, and insisted in her will that their only son – John Edward, Baron von Schunck – change his surname to that of her father, Darnton Lupton, the former Mayor of Leeds.
[7][8] Christian Darnton's father, John Edward, had two sisters; one of whom – Florence von Schunck – had married Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale of Gledhow Hall, near Leeds in 1890.
Baroness von Schunck (née Kate Lupton, d. 1913), lived at the adjacent Gledhow Wood Estate which was where she hosted the wedding breakfast of her daughter and son-in-law.
[12] Darnton's teachers included Charles Wood and Cyril Rootham at Cambridge, and Harry Farjeon at the Royal Academy of Music, where he became friendly with his fellow student Walter Leigh.
[13] Christian Darnton first came to the general public's attention as a composer on 30 March 1927 when his parents financed a whole evening of music for their 21-year-old son at the Grotrian Hall in London.
Although he had been receiving other performances independently (including one of his Octet at the same hall four days earlier), the event had the unintended effect of straining his relationships with other composers and critics.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra played his Viola Concerto with soloist Bernard Shore (who commissioned the work) conducted by Iris Lemare, on 15 April 1936.
Then came a remarkable renewal (and the return of his dissonant, avant garde style) including the Concerto for Orchestra (1970–73), the String Quartet No 4 (1973) and the Symphony No 4 (1975–8), which had its premiere in September 1981, six months after the composer's death.