Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Philip Jacobson i te 10 o Hepetema 1938 ki a Sydney, i muri mai ko Baron, Jacobson, me tana wahine. Ko tōna pāpā te kaiwhakahaere tōrangapū o te "Daily Mirror" ā, i muri mai ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o te "Daily Herald" me te "The Sun". I whakatipuhia a Jacobson i Stanmore, Middlesex, a i whakaakona i Dorset me nga kura i etahi atu waahi. I mahi ia i tana mahi motu i roto i tētahi rārangi waka i whakahaeretia ki Malaya i te wā o te
he ohorere. I muri mai ka whiwhi ia i tetahi tohu i roto i nga mahi torangapu i te Kura o London o Economics.