Byrom invented a system of shorthand and, having perfected this, returned to England in 1716. Some of the inhabitants of Manchester tried to persuade him to set up a medical practice in the town, but he decided that his abilities were insufficient to pursue a medical career and resolved to teach his shorthand system instead. Shortly after coming into his family inheritance in 1740, he patented his "New Universal Shorthand". This system of shorthand, officially taught at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, was used by the clerk of the House of Lords.