Francis Xavier Kroot, the youngest of the eight children, five boys and three girls, was born on 7th December 1854, to Henry Kroot and Joanne Schrauwers. The Kroot families were one of the exemplary families of the town and parish of Zwolle in Southern Holland. After his primary school studies, Francis was sent to a Catholic boarding school at Roermond, Holland, where he studied music, calligraphy and languages such as French, German and Italian. While in Roermond his desire for the priesthood was born and he followed his brothers to the minor seminary at Culemborge and later to Mill Hill, London, for a missionary life.