Roger Williams was born in London around 1603; however, the exact date has not been established by scholars because his birth records were destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 when St. Sepulchre's Church burned.[2][3][4][5] His father, James Williams (1562–1620), was a merchant tailor in Smithfield, England; his mother was Alice Pemberton (1564–1635). At an early age, Williams had a spiritual conversion of which his father disapproved.