text: John Browning initially intended to follow the medical profession, and entered Guys Hospital, a teaching hospital and the location of a school of medicine. Despite having passed the required examinations, however, he abandoned his plans due to ill health. Instead, he apprenticed with his father, William Spencer Browning. At the same time, in the late 1840s, he was also a student at the Royal College of Chemistry. When John Browning came of age, he joined his father in the family business. However, he decided to change the nature of the business, due to increasing competition in the making of nautical instruments. Instead, he elected to pursue the design and manufacture of scientific instruments. In 1856, he assumed sole ownership of the enterprise. The factory was at 111 Minories, London for decades; it moved to 63 Strand, London in 1872. There was an additional London workshop at 6 Vine Street. John Brownings choice of profession was somewhat unusual for a graduate of the Royal College of Chemistry. Those who were inclined to become entrepreneurs tended to enter more chemically-oriented businesses, or have been associated with them before matriculating.