John Adams was born in 1817 in Chapelhill in St. Twynell's parish, Pembrokeshire, Wales. His father was William Adams. He married Eliza Bateman (1819-1856) in Castlemartin in 1839. They had six children. John received teacher's training in Westminster, London. He returned to Wales where he taught school in Pembrokeshire. Three of his sons, a daughter-in-law and a grandson all became teachers. Follows their careers and families through the 1930s in Wales, Hampstead and London.