Mandell Creighton - Early Childhood, 1843–1857

Early Childhood, 1843–1857

Mandell Creighton was born on 5 July 1843 in the border country city of Carlisle, Westmorland (now in Cumbria) to Sarah (née Mandell) and Robert Creighton. His father, a carpenter, had built a successful cabinet-making and decorating business on Castle Street, the main thoroughfare in Carlisle. A year later another son, James, was born to the couple and in 1846, a daughter, Mary, who died before the year was out. In 1849, another daughter, Mary Ellen (Polly) was born and the following year Sarah Creighton died unexpectedly. Robert, who never remarried, and never spoke of his wife again, raised the children with help from his unmarried sister who came to live with the family.

A self-made man, Robert Creighton constantly exhorted his sons to work. However, he also imbued them with a sense of independence. This later allowed Mandell to make career choices that were unorthodox for his background. For his part, his brother James would join his father's carpentry business, enter local politics, be twice elected mayor of Carlisle, and later become a director of North British Railway. Polly, by contrast, considered her childhood to be "horridly unhappy." Not being able to complete her school education, she never acquired the sophistication that she so greatly valued. Even so, she would spent her adult life promoting the education of children, and in 1927 become the first woman to be granted freedom of the city of Carlisle. The family living quarters, above the shop, were spacious but spartan—there was little decoration and few books. As Robert, moreover, was given to losing his temper easily, the household atmosphere was dreary and fearful. Years later, Mandell Creighton's wife was to speculate that the absence in her husband's childhood of a sense of belonging to a family was very likely the result of not having a mother.

Creighton's education began in a nearby dame school, run by a stern headmistress, where his restlessness and mischief often brought down punishment upon him. In 1852, he moved to the local cathedral school. There, under the influence of a charismatic headmaster, the Revd William Bell, he began to read voraciously and to succeed academically. Other students came seeking his help in translating passages from their classical studies; they soon gave him the nickname "Homer" on account of his quickness at construing. In November 1857, he took the King's Scholarship examination for admission to the Durham Grammar School, located some two hundred miles away. As his Carlisle teachers had not prepared him for translation of Latin verse, he left a portion of the exam unanswered and felt certain he had failed. The examiners, however, assessed his overall performance to be good and decided to accept him. In February 1858, the 15-year-old Creighton left Carlisle for Durham.