He joined his older brother Jonathan at age 15 in running a Quaker school at Stramongate in Kendal, about forty five miles from his home.[2] Around age 23 Dalton may have considered studying law or medicine, but his relatives did not encourage him, perhaps because being a Dissenter (a Christian opposed to a state religion and mandatory membership in the Church of England), he was barred from attending English universities. He acquired much scientific knowledge from informal instruction by John Gough, a blind philosopher who was gifted in the sciences and arts. At age 27 he was appointed teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at the "New College" in Manchester, a dissenting academy. He remained there until age 34, when the college's worsening financial situation led him to resign his post and begin a new career as a private tutor for mathematics and natural philosophy.