Woolf was born in London, England in 1882 and raised by "ideal Victorian parents" [1], Leslie Stephen and Julia Jackson. Her father worked in literature and was an editor while her mother was beautiful, known for self-sacrifice, and had many important social and artistic connections.
Both her mother and father's first spouses died and left them with a combined total of four children. They then had four children together (the youngest three, by accident), one of which was Virginia. The eight siblings' relationships were complicated, as the younger four tended to band together against the older ones. The four youngest Stephen children were artistically and academically talented, and they excluded their developmentally disabled half sister, Laura. Virginia was said to be jealous of the youngest, Adrian, since he was their mother's favorite. She even ran the children's family newspaper at age nine in which she often made fun of Vanessa and Adrian.
Woolf's family spent summers on the Cornwall coast, which was very different from their cramped home in London. She grew up experiencing opposites such as city/country, winter/summer, and rules/freedom. However, her predictable life ended in 1895 when her mother died. Virginia was only 13 and became depressed. Just when she began to feel better, her half sister Stella (a mother figure) died in 1897. Not long after, in 1904, her father died and Virginia had a nervous breakdown. That same year, the 4 youngest siblings moved out of their childhood home, marking the end of Virginia Woolf's childhood.
Family "tree":
Herbert Duckwork and Julia Stephen (previously married)
- Stella
- Gerald
- George
Leslie Stephen and Harriet Stephen (previously married)
- Laura
Julia Stephen and Leslie Stephen (Virginia Woolf's parents)
- Vanessa
- Thoby
- Virginia
- Adrian
[1] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Woolf
[2] https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37018