Born in Battersea on 30th May, 1871, John Champion Faunthorpe was the son of the Reverend John Pincher Faunthorpe, who at the time of the award was living at Elmfield, Bromley Common, and was living in Bromley at least in 1881 and 1891.
He was educated at Oxford and served in the Indian Civil Service, arriving in India in 1892. He gained a formidable reputation as a big game hunter, (bagging (among other things) more than three hundred tigers. He was posted to various locations in India).
He married Amy Frances Ryves (1871 – 1953), They had two children both born in India; Peter Champion Faunthorpe (1906 – 1975) and Betram Ryves Faunthorpe (1908 – 1966) In 1912 they were living in Calcutta.
When war broke out he was on leave in England in 1914. He served in the Intelligence branch of the General Staff at the Front. He was in charge of the accredited Press correspondents, and also the Military Director of the official cinematographers. He was awarded C.B.E. (Companion of the British Empire) and awarded the Military Cross. In 1922 he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George V.
When he returned to India after the war he collected specimens for the Natural History Museums of Chicago and New York. He was also an accomplished athlete. As a member of the British Team, he competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics.
He retired from the India Service in 1925 and died of pneumonia in Lucknow on 1st December 1929, aged 58.
