Thurso
At the age of fifteen he was removed from school and apprenticed to Mr Donald Robeson, a writer in the town of Thurso, Scotland. Through his apprenticeship, John acquired a considerable amount of professional knowledge and learned about regular business habits.
John had a passion for reading at a young age. Much of his leisure hours were devoted to reading, however, during this period in Thurso, books were scarce and expensive. There was no circulating library in the town and, if there were, these were private libraries among the upper classes. Under these circumstances John made the acquaintance of a baker, whose brother was connected with Mackay’s circulating library in Edinburgh. The baker organised for boxes of books to be brought to Thurso, which was to John's delight.
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