Danielle Defoe

Daniel ‘The True-Born
Englishman' Defoe
(1660-1731)
Daniel Defoe was born in London in 1660,
probably in September, third child and first
son of James and Mary Defoe. Daniel
received a very good education, as his
father hoped he would become a minister,
but Daniel wasn't interested. His family
were Dissenters, Presbyterians to be
precise, and those sects were being
persecuted a bit at this time, so maybe
Daniel had the right idea. He was always
very tolerant of others' religious ideas
himself.
His mother died when he was ten, and his
father sent him to a boarding school, after
which he attended Morton's Academy, as
he could not graduate from Oxford or
Cambridge without taking an oath of
loyalty to the Church of England. He was a
very good student, and his teacher, the
Reverend Mr. Norton himself, would later
show up as a character in some of Daniel's
fiction. Daniel graduated in 1679, and by
then he'd pretty much decided against the
ministry, though he wro...