Hannah Ayscough was born in Market Overton, Rutland, to James Ayscough and his wife Margery Blythe. She is best known as the mother of Sir Isaac Newton, though her relationship with her son was far from straightforward.
In April 1642, Hannah married farmer Isaac Newton the elder and moved to Woolsthorpe Manor, near Colsterworth. He died just months later in October 1642, and their only child, Isaac Newton, was born prematurely on Christmas Day that same year.
When Isaac was three years old, Hannah remarried. Her new husband was the Reverend Barnabas Smith, vicar of North Witham, and she moved to live with him, leaving young Isaac in the care of her parents. The separation had a lasting effect. Newton later recorded among his teenage confessions the sin of “threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house over them”, a stark indication of the anger he carried. Historians have attributed much of his intense, often anxious personality to the insecurity of this early abandonment.
Rev Smith died in 1653, aged 70, and Hannah returned to Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth with her three children from that marriage – Mary, Benjamin, and Hannah – reuniting with Isaac, by then aged ten.
The reunion did not mark a turning point in their relationship. In 1659, Hannah decided Isaac should follow his father into farming and removed him from school to work the land at Woolsthorpe. It was a poor fit. He neglected his duties, preferring to read, and by most accounts was an ineffective farmer. He returned to school in the autumn of 1660, a year having been lost at a critical point in his education.
It was not Hannah but her brother, William Ayscough, who recognised Isaac’s abilities and pushed for him to attend university. Isaac entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in June 1661, after his teachers had also persuaded Hannah of her son’s potential. She appeared considerably more absorbed in managing her farm than in his academic progress.
Newton rarely spoke of his family in later life and remained a notably solitary figure. Some historians, drawing on the work of the Newton Project, have suggested his difficult and often reclusive personality was shaped in no small part by his childhood experiences.
Hannah died in Stamford, Lincolnshire, in 1679, when Isaac was 36. He buried her at Colsterworth on 4th June, beside his father, and spent much of the remainder of that year at Woolsthorpe.
This is a good article, although I think it may be a bit presumptuous (and unfair) to assume his mother didn’t care about his education or recognize his brilliance. One must remember she was not likely well educated, which would make it harder for her to understand his need for higher education, but to say she cared more about her farm than she did about his academic achievements is a little harsh, especially considering we don’t have any evidence about her feelings on anything. The farm was her only means of survival, likely all she knew, so how could she understand that it wasn’t enough for him?
With virtually no information about her personality or feelings, one could just as easily assume she was very proud of her son’s academic achievements, once she saw how he thrived at school. One must remember, after all, that he was only a boy of 10 when she tried to make a farmer of him – chances are she didn’t know (nor could she suspect at that point in his life) what he was capable of achieving. Her brother, William, however was able to see the boy Isaac’s potential because he was educated. Being a woman in those days, and not from a wealthy family, Hannah would never have had the sort of education her brother and son we’re able to receive.
My point is only that one mustn’t judge her too harshly, as we know almost nothing about her. Just because she left him in the care of her parents doesn’t mean she didn’t love him or care about him and his needs – it could, in fact, even been quite the opposite. After all, her second husband probably didn’t want another man’s son in his household – and we do know Newton never liked Barbara’s Smith, and likely ultimately blamed him for his mother leaving him behind in the first place.
Without an education or any skills that could help her lead an independent life, especially in the 17th century, Hannah Ayscough was really at the mercy of the men who were willing and able to take care of her (such as her father, brother, and subsequent husbands). It’s really unfortunate, if that was the case, and one could feel sorry for her.
At the end of the day, though, we really don’t know what motivated her or what she thought and felt about her son’s abilities and achievements. She was merely a woman of her time and station, and likely did the best she could with what she had. No matter what, though, we have her to thank for bringing that great man into this world – and who knows, had she not left him with her parents when she remarried; had he not resented her; had he rather been close to her and felt the obligation to care for her in her widowed state, he might never have become the man he was capable of becoming.
That was supposed to say Barnabas Smith. Dreadful spell-check…
Please forgive all the terrible typing errors. I’m afraid between my iPhone’s spell-check and my mind racing faster than I can type, there are a wretched number of errors I noticed in the above comment. Disregard them, please.
I’ve found out recently that I’m a “direct” descendant of the Ayscough line, and my family worked on the Newtonian manor – not sure I inherited any of Isaac Newton’s brains however!
Regards
Ian Williams
Melbourne Australia
(Descendant of William Douglas & Mary Groves, of Colsterworth)