[1] He was the eldest of the seven surviving children of John Crome (1768–1821), painter, and his wife, Phoebe Berney (also known as Pheobe Barney).

In 1816 he went with his school friend George Vincent, and a doctor, Benjamin Steel (who afterwards married Crome’s sister) on an excursion to Paris.

In conjunction with John Sell Cotman, he took a lively interest in the Norwich Society of Artists in 1828, which had closed in 1825 after the demolition of its old premises.

[2] He was known as a man of genial character and jovial disposition, and his portrait, one of two executed by H B Love, hangs in the Castle Museum, Norwich.

John Berney Crome worked in oils, watercolours and pencil, painting coastal and rural scenes, both at home and abroad.

[2] Crome's paintings can bear a strong resemblance to those of his father, and also of fellow Norwich School artist George Vincent, and their works have at times been confused with each others.