John Campbell was a successful businessman who settled in the Falkirk

Falkirk

Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 area in the nineteenth century.

He was born in 1834 in Kilmartin

Kilmartin

Kilmartin is a small village in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It is best known as the centre of Kilmartin Glen, an area with one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric monuments and historical sites in Scotland. It contains over 350 monuments within a 6 mile radius.-Kilmartin Parish...

, Craignish in Argyllshire to James Campbell and Elizabeth McPherson. About 1873 John came to Redding from Glasgow as a storeman at the Redding Coal Company and then organised the shipping of coal on the Union Canal

Union Canal (Scotland)

The Union Canal is a 31.5-mile canal in Scotland, from Lochrin Basin, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh to Falkirk, where it meets the Forth and Clyde Canal.-Location and features:...

. He set up his own coal sales business later with sons James and Colin.

He also inherited property in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and a street in Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

 from his wife's family and built each of his five surviving children a house in the area. His first wife, Jane Hodgson, died of consumption in 1873. Three of their children, Margaret, George and Margaret Jane, died young in the 18 months prior to Jane's death. Edward, the eldest, became a seaman and was never heard from again. Edward Campbell was left a significant sum of money by his uncle in Glasgow, but was never traced. John Campbell's second marriage, to Janet Morrison, produced six further sons, James, William, John, Robert, Colin and Alexander, who built Craigenhall, a 14-bedroom mansionhouse off the prestigious Camelon Road in Woodlands, Falkirk

Woodlands, Falkirk

Woodlands is a large, prosperous central area of Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, which is mainly residential. Much of the ward is taken up by leafy streets where property prices are among the highest in Central Scotland and includes Lochgreen, Slamannan, Rosebank, Gartcows and Southern...

 and Craiglinn on Gartcows Crescent.

He was a Master Mason and was fluent in Gaelic.

As a Campbell of Craignish

Campbell of Craignish

The Campbells of Craignish , form one of the oldest branches of the ancient and powerful Clan Campbell in Scotland.. They claim descent from Dugald Campbell, the second son of Sir Archibald Gillespic Campbell , 5th Knight of Lochawe and 20th Chief of Clan Campbell at the time...

, it has been suggested, though never proved, that John's descendants may be the inheritors of the Chieftainship of Clan Campbell of Craignish.