Who grew up at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, England, during the 17th century?

On Christmas day in 1642, Isaac Newton (1642-1726/27) was born at Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. Christmas day babies were special, but Newton was also considered blessed because he was born three months after the death of his father, also called Isaac. When his mother remarried, three-year-old Newton remained at Woolsthorpe Manor with his maternal grandparents.

Woolsthorpe Manor was a yeoman’s farmstead, which principally reared sheep. While Newton was not adept at farming, the environment and landscape inspired his curious mind to observe and experiment with nature. His quiet, contemplative personality set Newton apart from other boys his age, particularly when he started attending school in Grantham at the age of 12.

Newton retreated to the safety of his childhood home during the plague year of 1665. Despite being away from his university studies, Newton’s lockdown resulted in some of his best theories that changed the course of science. While sitting under an apple tree outside the house, he observed an apple fall to the ground. This incident sparked questions, such as, why did the apple fall straight down and not to the side? Many who have heard this story believe this was the moment Newton “discovered” gravity, yet gravity was hypothesised by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) in 1604 and confirmed by Italian Jesuits, Grimaldi (1618-63) and Riccioli (1598-1671), in the 1640s.