John was born in Athlestane Ford Mains in East Lothian on a farm where he
spent his childhood. His family moved to Penicuik where
he went to school. After school he went back to the
country life and worked on a farm for a few years until
he joined the Army, serving four years in the First and
Second Battalions of the Scots Guards. In the meantime
his family moved to Carlisle and after John left the
Army he, too, joined them in Cumbria
In Carlisle he met Mary
and they were married in Christ the King Church in 1965.
They were blessed with four children, all girls, Diane
and Lorraine (twins), Jeannette and Lorna, and are now
the proud grandparents of five girls and five boys.
John worked for nearly
thirty years with the John Lewis Partnership, based at
Stead McAlpine at Cummersdale, starting out as a fork
lift truck driver and ending as a shift manager.
John, who was baptised
in the Church of Scotland, became a Catholic in 1974,
and in some form or other has always been active in
parish life - helping with the Youth Club, serving at
the altar, being a Minister of the Eucharist - just in
time for Pope John Paul's visit to Manchester in 1982.
After much deliberation John started training for the
Permanent Diaconate in 2002 and was ordained Deacon in
our church on July 6 2005.