[2][3][4] Fells was a tailor's son,[5] who came into prominence as secretary of Zetetical Society early 1880s, where he crossed paths with Sidney Webb and Emile Garcke.
[6] He took classes in intermediate arithmetics, mathematics, composition, dictation, and English History at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution in 1872 and 1873.
In 1887 Fells had become assistant secretary at the Brush Electrical Light Corporation,[7] which was directed by Emile Garcke in those days.
They could only learn what happened in the offices and, since the accountants seldom dealt with costing matters neither did the apprentices.
They were poor, badly educated men who received what training they got on the job in a factory bookkeeping office.