John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at the settlement of Eaglesfield, England in 1766. His father was a weaver. He received his early education from his father and from Quaker John Fletcher, who ran a private school at Pardshaw Hall. With his family too poor to support him for long, he began to earn his living at the age of ten in the service of a wealthy local Quaker, Elihu Robinson. It is said he began teaching at a local school at age 12, and was prolific in Latin at age 14.