William Paley was born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England, in July 1743 and baptized in the cathedral there 30 August 1743. He was the only son of William and Elizabeth Clapham Paley, who subsequently had three daughters. Paley's father had been educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, and at the time of his son's birth he was a minor canon of the cathedral church at Peterborough. Two years later, the elder William Paley was appointed headmaster of the Giggleswick Free Grammar School in the Yorkshire parish where the Paley family had held a small estate for several generations.

Young William Paley was educated at the Giggleswick school, where he was known not only for his considerable scholastic aptitude but also for his physical awkwardness. By the time he was fifteen, he had risen to the top of the school, and in November 1758 the elder Paley took his son to Cambridge, where he applied...