section_path: Biography/Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Michael Faraday was born on 22 September 1791 in Newington Butts, Surrey (which is now part of the London Borough of Southwark). His family was not well off. His father, James, was a member of the Glasite sect of Christianity. James Faraday moved his wife, Margaret (née Hastwell), and two children to London during the winter of 1790 from Outhgill in Westmorland, where he had been an apprentice to the village blacksmith. Michael was born in the autumn of that year, the third of four children. The young Michael Faraday, having only the most basic school education, had to educate himself.
  
  At the age of 14, he became an apprentice to George Riebau, a local bookbinder and bookseller in Blandford Street. During his seven-year apprenticeship Faraday read many books, including Isaac Watts 's The Improvement of the Mind, and he enthusiastically implemented the principles and suggestions contained therein. During this period, Faraday held discussions with his peers in the City Philosophical Society, where he attended lectures about various scientific topics. He also developed an interest in science, especially in electricity. Faraday was particularly inspired by the book Conversations on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.