 Damaris Masham was born in 1658, the daughter of the Cambridge Platonist, Ralph Cudworth, who was Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge. Little is known of her education, but she did have the advantage of being born into a family with a considerable library. However, despite the fact that her father was one of the most learned men of his generation he did not teach her Latin or Greek. She did apparently learn French as was deemed requisite for a gentlewoman of the time, and she taught herself Latin, later in life, according to the method recommended in Locke’s Some Thoughts Concerning Education.