He learnt much from his mother, who was a well-educated woman, and from the books she gave him to read. He and his eldest sister didn’t go to school for a long time. Their father lost his job and was imprisoned for debt. All the property the family had was sold, and the boy was put to work in a blacking factory. He worked hard washing bottles for shoe-42 polish and putting labels on them, while his father, mother, sisters and brothers all lived in debtors’ prison.