His father, a shoemaker, who soon after his son's birth relocated the family to Manchester, was a cripple of violent temper, h e had, however, a genuine affection for his boy, who was educated at the Manchester Grammar School, where he attracted the notice of the Rev. Thomas Aynscough, M.A., who obtained the aid which, with a school exhibition, enabled him to proceed to Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. on 17 June 1778 and M.A. on 21 June 1781.