Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1560 to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and Ann Cooke. His mother was an accomplished lady; the daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, and the sister-in-law of the Secretary of State of the time, Sir William Cecil. Francis was the youngest of his father's eight children. He was born in London at his father's residence, York House. There is not a great deal that distinguished Bacon from other boys his age up until his sixteenth year. In 1573, Bacon left his home for Trinity College in Cambridge, at a young twelve years of age.

Bacon's mother was a religious woman who took great interest in the Church. She had qualities of eloquence; she was well-educated, full of affection and marked by Puritan characteristics. The details

of what Bacon's mother taught him as a child are not known, but her personal qualities lead us to infer that she steered him in the direction of individualism. Bacon's father, it has been assumed, designed him for the service of the state.

As a child, young Francis Bacon found himself in the presence of the Queen, which had potential to intrigue him to aspire to be a Statesman, just as his father's mother was. But he did not aspire to do so. Instead, Bacon turned his interests to study. As time passed and Bacon immersed himself in the world of academia, a specific interest arose in him. This interest was so specific that it has been recorded in Bacon's early history. Bacon questioned, "If our study of nature be thus barren, our method of study must be wrong: might not a better method be found?" This simple, yet complex, thought developed into a project of discovery for Bacon; and therefore began the "nature" of Bacon's lifelong quest to find the answers to this question.

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