in 1812, in a town called vinooty in russian poland, nisan samuel was born. named after the jewish month of his birth, he was part of a locally prominent jewish family. he was forced to leave the country to escape persecution, and "wander[ed] over the continent, where he was befriended by baron rothschild". initially he settled in london, where he met a jew who had converted to christianity. he became interested in the christian religion and became a convert himself, associating at first with the established church (the church of england). at this point he changed his name to edward samuel. in the early 1840s, he started to explore nonconformism, and was invited to preach at numerous small gatherings of independents and strict baptists. around this time he was also baptised.