John's son, Peter, has kindly provided this obituary for our Sidcotian community:

Following his time at Sidcot (1939-43) and Bootham (1943-48), John attended the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School of Studies in Edinburgh where he studied to fulfil his life-long ambition to be a Vet. While at college he met his wife Annie who was studying midwidery. They married on 22 August 1953. They moved to Chipping Norton and took over the veterinary practice that was based in a small cottage, developing and upgrading it over the years to a Veterinary Hospital standard.

He lived in Chipping Norton for 22 years. He took a keen interest in raising funds to sustain the small Theatre and he had a weekly spot on the local radio station with Radio Oxford for people to phone in with all their questions about their pets.

In the town, he became actively inolved in politics, sat on the local and County Council groups and was Mayor of the town. he was a JP and sat on the magistrate's bench. He chaired the local Conservative Party and stood as an MP in the 1974 election, unsuccessful at gaining a Conservative seat from the Labour-held town of Swindon.

John and Annie moved to Ascott under Wychwood in November 1982, and worked the farm, calf rearing and managing a closed flock of 250 sheep. Seven years later they retired from farming and turned Manor Farm into a wildlife Conservation, planting trees, building Otter holts and constructing ponds and a big lake and set up a village toadwatch patrol to help the thousands of toads that migrated onto the farm in the breeding season. He was also heavily involved in Barn Owl conservation, he used to breed them for release in and around the locality.

John continued to work as a vet, and developed a special interest in Zoo work and looked after the animals at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. As a zoo inspector he visited zoos throughout the world visiting over 30 different countries and was instrumental in closing many unsatisfactory establishments and improving welfare in others.

John worked on a voluntary basis for WSPA (World Society for Protection of Animals) and was involved in many international projects including providing disaster relief in war zones to help animals at risk in Iraq, Bosnia, Croatia and other conflict zones during the fighting, and subsequently to advise on the rebuilding of the Veterinary service.

John and his wife Annie founded the Sebakwe Black Rhino Trust in 1988 and established a large conservation in Zimbabwe to protect wildlife and specifically the black rhino. They raised huge amounts of money to fund many conservation and education projects in Zimbabwe, establishing a number of schools, a large education centre, and funding many projects including drilling bore holes to provide water for local communities. 

In 2009, John was awarded an OBE for his services to rhino conservation and animal welfare.

He is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. His wife Annie died on 13 April 2022.