Editing Matthew Webb (section)

==Early life==
Webb was born on 19 January 1848 in [[Dawley]], [[Shropshire]]. He was one of 13 children of the surgeon Dr Matthew Webb.<ref name="dawleyheritage" />{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=12}}{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}} In 1849, when Webb was 14 months old, his family moved to [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]], and then in 1856 to [[Coalbrookdale]], where they lived near the River Severn.<ref name="dawleyheritage">{{Cite web |last=Peel |first=Malcolm |title=Matthew Webb biography |url=http://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk/unpublished-articles/350/biography-of-capt-matthew-webb-by-m-peel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001093638/https://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk/unpublished-articles/350/biography-of-capt-matthew-webb-by-m-peel |archive-date=1 October 2024 |access-date=22 August 2018 |website=Dawley Heritage Group |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Watson|2001|pp=14-16}}

Webb's first memory involved the water.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=11}} After school he would go with friends to play in the Severn, so by the age of seven he could swim.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=19}} This was uncommon for the time, as swimming was not generally considered a pleasurable activity, but rather a medical treatment.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|pp=21-22}} At eight, Webb and his older brother Thomas saved his younger brother Charles from drowning.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=28}} Webb enjoyed showing off in front of his friends and reading sea stories, with the book ''Old Jack'' by [[William Henry Giles Kingston|W. H. G. Kingston]] inspiring him to become a seaman.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|pp=29-31}}{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}}