[1] His father, Johnathon, was born in England in 1773 and, in 1788, at the age of 15, was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia.
In 1822, Jonathan took John and another son to Launceston, Tasmania where they acquired land, began farming and built a house.
In Tasmania John came increasingly into his own, building small vessels and sailing on them on sealing expeditions into Bass Strait and engaging in bay whaling at Portland and Port Fairy on the coast of Victoria.
By 1835 he was building warehouses on the wharf and soon had a steam-powered flour mill and shipping agency in partnership with Michael Connolly.
Dyster, Barrie (1980), "John Griffiths, speculator", Tasmanian Historical Research Association.