Editing Edward Baines (1774–1848) (section)

==Early years==
Edward Baines was born in 1774 at [[Walton-le-Dale]], near [[Preston, Lancashire]]. He was educated at [[Hawkshead Grammar School]] (where [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]] was a contemporary),<ref name=Thornton>{{cite book|last1=Thornton|first1=David|title=Mr Mercury - a biographical study of Edward Baines with special reference to his role as editor, author and politician|date=1999|publisher=University of Leeds, School of History|location=Leeds|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/441/1/uk_bl_ethos_269708.pdf}} (e-published PhD thesis)</ref> and then in the lower school of the grammar school in Preston.<ref name=Thornton />{{rp|42}}  He then became a weaver, but at the age of sixteen he was apprenticed for seven years to a printer in Preston. In the fifth year of his apprenticeship, he terminated it and moved to [[Leeds]], where he finished his apprenticeship with the printer of the ''[[Leeds Mercury]]'', one of two Leeds weekly newspapers. In later years, both Baines and his political opponents would have it that he arrived in Leeds with little more than the clothes on his back,{{efn|But where Baines and his admirers thought ambition (or disagreement with his master) the reason for his move some of his opponents (such as [[Richard Oastler]]) said he was escaping a pregnant fiancee in Preston.<ref name=Thornton />{{rp|46–47}}}} but on completion of his apprenticeship he set up his own printworks with the aid of a loan of £100 from his father.<ref name=Thornton />{{rp|55}} He became a member of the Leeds Reasoning Society (a discussion group which eschewed religious or political issues) and of the local subscription library. He became attracted to [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformism]], and after attending the chapels of both Unitarians and Congregationalists settled for the latter (although he did not formally become a member until 1840).<ref name="Thornton" />{{rp|290}} (He married Charlotte Talbot in 1798; she and their children were also lifelong non-conformists, with the exception of the eldest son [[Matthew Talbot Baines]] who became an [[Church of England|Anglican]], and therefore was able to take a degree at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].)