He was the son of Arthur William and Jessie Hannah Roberts (nee Mainwaring). They were married in 1870 in Swansea and had at least ten children.
Arthur William born 1871, William Henry born 1874, Jessie Maria born 1875, Alfred Horatio born 1877, George Augustus born 1879, Herbert V. born 1881, John Powe born 18th October 1882, Adrian Alexander born 1883, Septimus Mainwaring born 1884, Sidney Ernest born 1888.
Jessie died in 1893 and Arthur married Mary Elizabeth Southern in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1896 and they had three children.
John married Sarah Mallen in 1904 in South Shields. They appear to have had one son after they arrived in Australia. John was born in Jarrow in the 1911 Census was working as a plumber, living with his wife Sarah at 16, Armstrong Street in Dunston on Tyne, Gateshead.
John was a Freemason and joined Lodge Temperance No 2557 meeting at the Old Assembly Rooms in Newcastle Upon Tyne in June 1909 at 27 years of age. He was a plumber living at 16, Armstrong Street, Dunston on Tyne, Gateshead. John was proposed by Bro Robert Charlton and seconded by Bro William Barker at the regular Lodge Temperance meeting held on 17th May, then a month later on the 21st June, after a successful ballot, he was initiated into Freemasonry. He was passed to the second degree on the 16th August and raised to the sublime degree of a master mason on the 20th September. He signed and received his Grand Lodge certificate in open lodge at the meeting held on 20th December 1909.
The outward passenger lists show that John and his wife Sarah, accompanied by his brother Septimus, boarded the ship “Suffolk” at Liverpool on the 10th June 1911 bound for Australia. There is no evidence in the Lodge’s minutes that the brethren had been informed of John’s emigration to Australia, although they may have been aware. John settled in North Ipswich, Queensland with his wife and worked as a “sanitary engineer”.
John had previously served twelve years in the Durham Light Infantry as a Sergeant. When he enlisted at the outbreak of the First World War in the Australian Imperial Force, on the 28th August 1914 he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, 'D' Company. He later transferred to the 9th Infantry Battalion where he was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st February 1915.
At the regular meeting of Lodge Temperance held on 16th August 1915 the Worshipful Master WBro. John Armstrong announced that he had received a letter from Mrs Roberts, widow of J. P. Roberts informing the Lodge that her husband had been killed in action in the Dardanelles on April 25th. The Worshipful Master on behalf of the officers and brethren instructed the Treasurer to send a letter of condolence. The brethren stood in sympathy.
He is remembered on the Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 and in the Roll of Honour 1914-18 Lodge Temperance 2557 NUT254
