| Activity | Museum Staff: appointed Scientific Officer in General Herbarium, Department of Botany 1 Oct 1952 (in charge of Section 2 (Families 67. Myrtaceae – 107. Asclepiadaceae), one of the four sections into which the General Herbarium was then divided); Senior Scientific Officer 1956; Principal Scientific Officer 1964; Keeper of Botany 1977; retired 1990.
Made a special study of Umbelliferae (Parsley Family), particularly of the African species.
President of the Botanical Society of the British Isles 1983-1985
John grew up in Croydon, where his biology master at Whitgift School, Cecil Prime, stimulated his interest in botany. After military service and study at Newcastle University, he joined the staff of the Museum in 1952 as a Scientific Officer in the General Herbarium. He was put in charge of Section 2 (Families 67. Myrtaceae – 107. Asclepiadaceae), one of the four sections into which the General Herbarium was then divided. John used to tell the story that Dr George Taylor, the then Keeper, took him to the herbarium and indicated a desk, saying ‘You sit there’. He said that he was given no other initial instructions. The range of families in his section included the Umbelliferae (Parsley Family), of which he made a special study, particularly of the African species. One of his first tasks was to supervise the creation by Kim Allen of the old British Natural History Gallery. John Cannon was made Deputy Keeper under Bob Ross in 1972, and became Keeper of Botany on Bob’s retirement in1977. When he himself retired in 1990, he left the Museum and gave up botanical research. However, along with his wife Margaret, he wrote a book on Plant Dyes, published by the Museum.
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