John took over at Elginshire after the death of Charles Anderson.
John was a Scottish minister's son. He was educated at St Andrew's. He went into banking and went over to Bengal to develop the cotton trade with the UK. In Hyderabad he started his own private banking and cotton spinning businesses. He returned to the UK in 1882 and became involved with the British committee of the Indian National Congress. He was fiercely opposed to the annexation of Egypt in 1882. He unsuccessfully contested West Newington in 1886.
John persistently intervened in the debates on the Land Purchase Bill of 1890 and published a tract Exposure on the subject. It earned him the reputation of a bore.
John held the seat fairly comfortably in 1892 but was narrowly defeated in 1895. He was unsuccessful at Tamworth in 1906.
John also published tracts attacking the Indian government's claim to Berar Province, scaremongering about Russia and tariff reform.
He died in 1909 aged 70.
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