He was born of a farming family of Swanton Morley

Swanton Morley

Swanton Morley is a picturesque village situated in the heart of Norfolk. It is a village steeped in history documented back to the Domesday Book...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and, after associating with the Puritan party in the Church, eventually joined the Separatists.

Driven abroad about 1593, he found a home in "a blind lane at Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

", acting as "porter" to a bookseller, who, on discovering his knowledge of Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, introduced him to other scholars. When part of the London church, of which Francis Johnson (then in prison) was pastor, reassembled in Amsterdam, Ainsworth was chosen as their doctor or teacher.