John Dalton John Dalton was born on September 6 1766 at Eagelsfield, Cumbria in England.Although he was born in England, he spent most of his life in Manchester.He was born into a Quaker family and while his family had food, they were still poor. His father Joseph was a weaver and John recieved most of his early education from his father. At the age of 12, John opened a school in Eagelsfield where he was the master. He was often threatened by the older boys who wanted to fight him because he was smarter, but he managed to keep in control for 2 years.Due to a poor salary, John was forced to leave his sch