His mother died in poor circumstances in 1789, his elder brother was lost at sea, and John became an inmate of the parish poorhouse; he was apprenticed by the overseers to a neighbouring farmer, who repeatedly beat him and from whom he was glad to escape by enlistment as a boy in the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot, at Colchester, on 17 January 1797.

[3] Through the kindness of his captain, he picked up some education, and, after service in the Channel Islands and the Cape, sailed for India, where, having risen to be a sergeant in the grenadier company, he served against the Mahrattas under Lord Lake.

Returning home after two and a half years' further service, he found himself constrained to sell out on 19 March 1808 in order to obtain a sum (about £250) to pay his debts.

[3] Shipp distinguished himself greatly by his bravery in the second campaign of the Ghorka war, notably in a single combat with one of the enemy's sirdars near Muckwanpore.

Shipp was imprudent enough to reflect in writing upon the behaviour of a superior officer in regard to these transactions, and was discharged from the service by a court-martial held at Fort William on 14–27 July 1823.

He was, however, recommended to mercy, 'in consideration of his past services and wounds, and the high character that he had borne as an officer and a gentleman.’ On selling out, on 3 November 1825, the East India Company granted him a pension of £50, upon which he settled near Ealing in Middlesex.

in His Majesty's 87th regiment) tell his life story from his youth, admiring the recruiting band, through his entire military career, and include extensive reflection as well as narrative.

[3] Shipp's memoirs were first published c. 1829, subsequent editions were revised[5] by the addition of material relating to his court-martial, and in 1890 with an introduction by Henry Manners Chichester, who also selected illustrations and corrected the text.