Newton's father died before he was born, and his mother, Hannah Ayscough, remarried when he was three, leaving him in his grandmother's care. Young Isaac hated his stepfather. He also had a troubled relationship with Hannah, confessing in his journal that he had once threatened to burn the house down with the couple inside.<span> Later in life, Newton desperately sought his mother's approval, but she was bewildered by his scientific successes. In fact, she would have preferred it if he'd stayed home to manage the family estates. It may be for this reason that Newton never married; it's believed by many that he remained celibate throughout his life.
When Newton was three, his mother remarried and went to live with her new husband, the Reverend Barnabus Smith, leaving her son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Margery Ayscough. The young Isaac disliked his stepfather and held some enmity towards his mother for marrying him
