He was also appointed assistant tutor, at an annual salary of £60, to Thomas Postlethwaite, and in addition took private pupils, among whom was Pepper Arden, baron Alvanley.
Under the pressure of hard work Zouch's health broke down, and on 12 July 1770 he was instituted, on the presentation of his university, to the rectory of Wycliffe, on the south bank of the River Tees.
The patronage was vested in the Roman Catholic family of Constable, and, as they resisted his nomination, it cost him much trouble and expense to establish his right to the living.
The church and parsonage are delightfully situated, and the interest of this small parish was heightened in his eyes by its reputed connection with John Wycliffe.
Here he found much time for study on his own account, and he acquired a full knowledge of French, Italian, Hebrew, as well as 'a certain portion of Chaldee and Arabic learning.'
He thoroughly explored this district of Yorkshire for rare botanical specimens, and became so well known for his zeal in the pursuit that on 15 May 1788, within two months of its first meeting, he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society.
[4] When Richard Pepper Arden was appointed Master of the Rolls in 1788, Zouch became his chaplain, and in 1791 obtained the position of deputy-commissary of the archdeaconry of Richmond.
Though Pitt did not manage this, in 1793 he secured Zouch the valuable rectory of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, whereupon the benefice of Wycliffe became vacant.
Pitt considered him for the mastership of Trinity College in 1798; but William Lort Mansel had better claims for a post which then required a man of exceptional firmness of character.
When Edward Vernon (afterwards Vernon-Harcourt) was translated at the close of 1807 from Carlisle to the archbishopric of York, the Duke of Portland offered the vacant see to Zouch.