Isaac Todhunter

Isaac Todhunter was born at Rye, Sussex, 23 Nov., 1820. He was the second son of George Todhunter, Congregationalist minister of the place, and of Mary his wife, whose maiden name was Hume, a Scottish surname. The minister died of consumption when Isaac was six years old, and left his family, consisting of wife and four boys, in narrow circumstances. The widow, who was a woman of strength, physically and mentally, moved to the larger town of Hastings in the same county, and opened a school for girls. After some years Isaac was sent to a boys' school in the same town kept by Robert Carr, and subsequently to one newly opened by a Mr. Austin from London; for some years he had been unusually backward in his studies, but under this new teacher he made rapid progress, and his career was then largely determined.