John dalton biography uol mail

1766-1844.

[p.249] In a Cumberland dale, at the township of Eaglefield, not far from Cockermouth, there lived in 1766 a Quaker family in humble circumstances, who shortly afterwards obtained a small copyhold estate, upon which the good man of the house brought up six children, one of them being John Dalton, born in the year just mentioned.

The Society of Friends in those days were much more strict in their adherence to the usages of George Fox than their descendants are at present; and it is easy to picture the drab coat and the broad-brimmed hat of the father, and the sober-coloured gown, and the neat cap, and the white kerchief of the mother, with their little ones like a flock, dressed in corresponding attire, when on first days they followed their parents to “meeting.” John Dalton went to school with “Friend Fletcher,” who lived in the place, and had the care of other children connected with the community.

The learning communicated might no