In which English village, now part of Northampton, was Francis Crick born?

Francis Crick was born in Weston Favell, an English village that is now part of Northampton. He was born there on 8 June 1916 and spent his early years in the area, where his father and uncle ran a boot and shoe factory.

Weston Favell was a separate village near Northampton during Crick's childhood. Its later incorporation into the expanding town explains why biographical sources may describe his birthplace as either Weston Favell or Northamptonshire, rather than using only the modern city label.

Crick's early environment was practical and scientifically curious. His uncle taught him glassblowing, chemical experiments and photographic printing in a garden shed. He later attended Northampton Grammar School before receiving a scholarship to Mill Hill School in London.

Crick went on to study physics at University College London, worked on wartime mine design, and then shifted into biology. With James Watson, he published the 1953 DNA double-helix paper and shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Watson and Maurice Wilkins.