Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England into a devoutly Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Sewell (1793-1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798 - 1884) was a successful writer of children's books in her own right. Sewell had one sibling, a younger brother called Philip (1822–1906) who worked first as a construction engineer in Europe, building railways in Spain and elsewhere, before settling back in Norfolk and working as a banker.