Robert Owen was born in Newtown, mid-Wales, in 1771. Newtown was then a very small market town with little industrial development other than a few flannel looms. He was the much loved youngest child of a saddler and ironmonger father, who was also the local postmaster. Owen's mother's family were numerous and 'respectable farmers' in the area.
As a result of an early scalding accident and its consequences, Robert believed himself to be good at observing and reflecting on people and life.
Being an avid reader from quite early in his childhood and being known to the whole town, the young Robert Owen borrowed books from all the educated homes in Newtown. These studies convinced him, among other things, that religious divisions in society were wrong and that religious education should be improved.
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