He arrived on 29/07/1882 on the Mary Blair, with his wife and four children arriving on 27/08/1883 on the Ferret from South Australia. John was a farmer at Shamrock Hotel in Perth in 1885, when he applied for an immigrant grant of 150 acres in the Cockburn district. He reapplied this time to the Wellington district in 1885. In Bunbury, John was a hotelier for the Prince of Wales in 1885. He visited South Australia on 01/08/1885 on the Franklin and returned by October and again from the Eastern colonies in 02/1888 on the Lusitania.