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The following is the first of a series of biographical sketches of ther life of Joseph Priestley.
Joseph Priestley was born on March 13, 1733 in Fieldhead, near Birstall, in Yorkshire, England. To give some perspective to this date, it was a year after the birth of George Washington.
Joseph was one of 6 children born to Jonas Priestley, a wool dresser. His mother died in 1739 giving birth to her 6th child in 6 years. Joseph spent much of his early childhood with his maternal grandfather and, after his mother's death, his father tried to raise him at home but, apparently couldn't manage it. When Joseph was 9 years old he was adopted by his father's sister, Mrs. Keighley. This was, probably, one of the best things that ever happenedd to Joseph Priestley. The Keighley's were people of substance who lived a few miles away from the Priestley home. Mr Keighley was, in his younger days, a persecutor of Dissenters. A dfissenter was anyone who belonged to a church other than the Church of England and, in those days, this included the Catholics, the Quakers, the Calvinists, the Presbyterians, etc. Mr. Keighley, hid himself in a dissenter's church in order to hear their heresies and report them to the law but, instead, he became converted to their doctrine. From then on he supported rthe dissenters and invited them to his house to espouse their views.
It can be imagined what effect this had on the young Joseph Priestley. He heard talk around the Keighley's dinner table which had to incite his curiosity. Soon after Priestley came to live with them, Mr. Keighley died leaving his consiiderable property to his widow who was determined to do good with her wealth. Her house was a center of nonconformity and a resort of al;l the dissenting ministers in the neighbirhood. Priestley says, in his memoirs:
...there was hardly a day in the wewek in which there was not some meeting of one part of the congregation. On one evening there was a mweeting of the young men ......This I constantly attended..At my aunt's there was a monthly meeting of women who acquitted themselves in prayer as well as any men....I was permitted to attend their meetings....
At an early age, Joseph decided to study for the ministry and, toward that goal, he learned Greek and Latin and Hebrew. He was sdo proficient that, at age 16, he tutored ministers in the study of Hebrew so that they counld read the Hrebrew bible. When it appeared that he was consumptive and would have to abandon his plan to study for the ministry he taught himself French, Italian, and German so that he might engage in a commercial occupation. However, his health recovered and he enrolled in the Academy at Daventry.