Edwards was born in Stepney (London) on 14 December 1812. His father, Anthony Turner Edwards, was a builder and apprenticed his son to this trade at the age of fourteen. There is no record of Edwards' education and early employments. However, it is known that he attended the King's Weigh House chapel, where he was influenced by Rev. Thomas Binney. Also, Edwards received private lessons from Edwin Abbott and was--as was his teacher--a member of a German reading circle of the Marylebone Literary and Scientific Institution.
