 Paxman was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of steel company employee and former Royal Navy lieutenant and typewriter salesman (Arthur) Keith Paxman, who left the family and settled in Australia, and Joan McKay ("née" Dickson; 1920–2009).Keith Paxman's father was a worsted spinner, who became sufficiently prosperous as a travelling sales representative to send his son to public school in Bradford.The Dickson family were wealthier, with Keith's father-in-law, a self-made success, paying the Paxman children's school fees.