Arthur Darby Nock was born in Portsmouth, England on February 21, 1902, the son of Cornelius and Alice Mary Ann Page Nock. In his family's quiet and somewhat austere home, he and his elder sister were always urged to excel in their school work and had little opportunity for easy contact with friends. In later years Nock felt that early loss. Meanwhile, however, he flourished in the atmosphere of forced learning, and distinguished himself both at the Portsmouth Grammar School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, to which he had won a Scholarship.