In 1816, a fifteen-year-old boy tried to row around the Isle of Wight in the fog. His mind was probably not filled with the defeat of Napoleon in the previous year, nor with the dropping of income tax, nor with the passing of the Corn Laws, but rather was he preoccupied with a personal crisis. Born in London in 1801, John Henry Newman was brought up in comfortable circumstances as a member of the Anglican Church. The eldest of six children, he never lacked companions for play, was clever, musical and loved swimming and riding.