[1] Born in London into the family that established Suttons Seeds, John's father, John Gerald Sutton, was an engineer credited with inventing the motor lawn-mower, among other things, and his mother, Kathleen Richard, was a teacher of classics.
Sutton and Watson were later jointly recognised for this work with the awards of the Lyell Fund[3] of the Geological Society of London in 1954, and of the Bigsby Medal in 1965.
[4] Sutton was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Geology in 1948, before he had completed his PhD, and then spent the rest of his academic career at Imperial College.
He also served on numerous boards, committees and councils including the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, the Natural History Museum, London.
John Sutton and Janet Watson married in April 1949, and had two daughters who both died at birth.