John McInnes Wishart was born on 22 March 1889 in Langside Village, Renfrewshire. He was the second son of John Wishart, a coachman from Aberdeenshire, and his wife, Sarah McInnes. John’s father worked at Langside House, and the family lived in the estate lodge. By 1901, John Snr. had left service and was working on a non-domestic basis as a coachman with his eldest son, Alexander. The family had moved to 28 Overdale Gardens in Cathcart, where John Jnr attended the local primary school with his three sisters. Following elementary education, John was a pupil at Queen’s Park High School in Langside.

By 1911, John had left school and was working in service as a butler with his sister Isabella for Sir William Lorimer, the chairman of the North British Locomotive Company, the largest locomotive engineering company in Europe. Sir William lived at 'Kirklinton' – a handsome villa on the Mansionhouse Road in Langside.

Based on his military service number, it seems probable that John enlisted in Glasgow during the autumn of 1914 and joined the 1/7th Battalion Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) – a Territorial unit forming part of the Scottish Rifle Brigade, Lowland Division. He was likely sent for training at Grangemouth, where on 11 May 1915, the brigade became part of the 156th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division.

John is known to have sailed from Liverpool on 24 May for Gallipoli (via Egypt), arriving on 14 June. Later that month, the battalion (along with the 8th Cameronians) was involved in an attack to take the high ground overlooking Gully Ravine. The Turkish trenches were heavily defended, and casualties were so high that the two units had to be merged into one.

John, in B Company, was one of only a handful of his company to survive the attack; however, on 3 July, his luck ran out when he was shot and killed by a sniper. John was commemorated on the Helles Memorial and also the memorial at Queen’s Park High School (now housed in the Langside Library.)