Was a weaver by trade in Ireland. He arrived in Bytown (later Ottawa) in the fall of 1827, and worked on the Rideau Canal. John appears to be the first of the Baird siblings to come to Canada. There is a story that in 1828 he flipped a coin to decide whether to keep the Bytown job, or strike out into the country, and the coin flap sent him on his way to to country.