John Hyland Lawes was the son of shipowner, John Wilkinson Lawes, and his wife Henrietta. He was born in 1888, the second son to be called John Hyland - the first had died at only a few months old in 1883.

John attended the High School from age 12 to 16, leaving in 1905 to work in the Borough Surveyor's Office, and train to be a civil engineer.

For the war, he served with the East Yorkshire Regiment and was made temporary 2nd Lieutenant with the 11th Battalion on 23-Nov-1914.

While serving with the 10th Battalion, John went missing on 3-Nov-1917, and was subsequently discovered to have been taken prisoner. He was repatriated at the end of the war on 3-Dec-1918.

John died in 1969.