Thomas Paine 1737 -1809
Writer and Revolutionary
By Jill Scholey
11th Jan 2012
Thomas Paine was born in Stretford,Norfolk to a Quaker father and an Anglican mother.
Thetford was a Rotten Borough,where only a few people had the power to vote,and corruption was rife.
As a young boy growing up, Paine would often have witnessed men and women chained by the ankles, being led to Gallows Hill to be hanged, perhaps for stealing a loaf of bread or a packet of tea.
Much in the England of Paine’s youth was unjust and cruel, and made a deep impression on him,one that he was never to forget.
As a young boy , Paine attended Thetford Grammar School, where he was an avid student.
Paine left school in 1749 to be apprenticed to his father’s trade of stay or corset maker.
By 1756, the Seven Years’ War had broken out and Paine’s apprenticeship was coming to an end.
He saw an advertisement in a local news-sheet asing for volunteers to sail against the French on a privateer named The Terrible.
Filled with wanderlust, Paine travelled to London to board the privateer, but his father followed and dissuaded him.
This was providential,as shortly afterwards The Terrible was captured by the French privateer Vengeance in a bloody battle,with most of the crew being captured or killed.
Paine sought work as a staymaker in bustling and crowded Covent Garden.
However,it was not long before he found another privateer to join, The King of Prussia, and shortly set sail to try his fortune.
Paine sailed as part of the crew for six months, capturing enemy ships and rescuing friendly vessels.
Life at sea was perilous,cramped and dirty,and battles between ships was brutal and terrifying.
To be continued.
