Robert Browning was born in Camberwell in 1812, the first son of Robert and Sarah Anna Browning. His father worked as a well-paid clerk for the Bank of England. Browning’s paternal grandfather was a wealthy slave owner in St Kitts, West Indies, but Browning’s father was an abolitionist. Browning's father had been sent to the West Indies to work on a sugar plantation. Revolted by the slavery there, he soon returned to England. Browning’s mother was a musician.