Editing Arnold Bennett (section)

===Early years===
Arnold Bennett was born on 27 May 1867 in [[Hanley, Staffordshire]], now part of [[Stoke-on-Trent]] but then a separate town.<ref>Pound, p. 20; and Swinnerton (1950), p. 9</ref><ref name=oglb>Hahn, Daniel, and Nicholas Robins. [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198614609.001.0001/acref-9780198614609-e-2697 "Stoke-on-Trent"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312092942/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198614609.001.0001/acref-9780198614609-e-2697 |date=12 March 2021 }}, ''The Oxford Guide to Literary Britain and Ireland'', Oxford University Press, 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2020 {{subscription required}}.</ref> He was the eldest child of the three sons and three daughters{{refn|Three other children died in infancy.<ref name=odnb/>|group=n}} of Enoch Bennett (1843–1902) and his wife Sarah Ann, ''née'' Longson (1840–1914). Enoch Bennett's early career had been one of mixed fortunes: after an unsuccessful attempt to run a business making and selling pottery, he set up as a [[draper]] and pawnbroker in 1866. Four years later, Enoch's father died, leaving him some money with which he [[articled clerk|articled]] himself to a local law firm; in 1876, he qualified as a [[solicitor]].<ref name=odnb>Lucas, John. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30708 "Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold (1867–1931), writer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914000605/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30708 |date=14 September 2019 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2020 {{ODNBsub}}</ref> The Bennetts were staunch [[Wesleyan Church|Wesleyans]], musical, cultured and sociable. Enoch Bennett had an authoritarian side, but it was a happy household,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Panter |first=Matthew |date=2 June 2023 |title=Retired Powys headteacher wins international book prize |pages= |work=Shropshire Star |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/authors/2023/06/02/retired-powys-headteacher-wins-international-book-prize/ |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> although a mobile one: as Enoch's success as a solicitor increased, the family moved, within the space of five years in the late 1870s and early 1880s, to four different houses in Hanley and the neighbouring [[Burslem]].<ref name=oglb/>

From 1877 to 1882, Bennett's schooling was at the [[Wedgwood Institute]], Burslem, followed by a year at a grammar school in [[Newcastle-under-Lyme]]. He was good at Latin and better at French;<ref>Swinnerton (1950), p. 10.</ref> he had an inspirational headmaster who gave him a love for French literature and the French language that lasted all his life.<ref>Drabble, p. 38.</ref> He did well academically and passed [[Cambridge University]] examinations that could have led to an [[Oxbridge]] education, but his father had other plans. In 1883, aged 16, Bennett left school and began work – unpaid – in his father's office. He divided his time between uncongenial jobs, such as rent collecting, during the day, and studying for examinations in the evening. He began writing in a modest way, contributing light pieces to the local newspaper.<ref name=odnb/> He became adept in [[Pitman's shorthand]], a skill much sought after in commercial offices,<ref>Pound, p. 68</ref> and on the strength of that he secured a post as a clerk at a firm of solicitors in [[Lincoln's Inn Fields]], London.<ref>Pound, p. 71.</ref> In March 1889, aged 21, he left for London and never returned to live in his native county.<ref name=odnb/><ref>Drabble, p. 45.</ref>