Genre:

Biography

Subjects:

Education, Reading, Astronomy, Mechanics, Instruments, Endeavour, Morality

    When he was apprenticed to a grocer in Darlington, George Newton's father allowed him only five shillings a year for pocket money. The biographer reports: 'Though the sum was but small, it enabled him to procure a few useful books; and his leisure hours were employed in the study of Mechanics, Geography, and Astronomy. With much ingenuity he constructed a terrestrial globe, and a sun-dial, which were both very correct'. The writer contrasts this behaviour with the 'depraved connexions' and 'expensive habits' often acquired by those children 'indulged with a liberal allowance of money during this period' (727). As an adult, 'he gratified his love of reading by procuring a choice collection of books on science and divinity', and he 'took a pleasure in imparting information to those who desired it' (732).