John Perry completed a law degree at Sydney University and was later employed as Assistant Master at Sydney Grammar School. He had previously attained some measure of celebrity after winning the 1867 Evening News poetry competition with his entry 'Australia.' After moving to the Illawarra region of New South Wales in the late 1870s or early 1880s he became actively involved in various committees and organisations, including the Wollongong Agricultural Society, and in 1882 was admitted to the New South Wales bar. Two years later he set up his own private school in Wollongong (Illawarra Mercury 24 May 1884, 3).
In 1887 Perry won another literary prize, this time a play competition organised by Alfred Dampier as part of the country's centennial celebrations. Perry's entry, The Life and Death of Captain Cook, was given its premiere at Sydney's Gaiety Theatre on 28 January 188 but was severely criticised by the Sydney press. By the early 1890s Perry was living in Bellambi and in 1892 attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself. After being stopped by neighbours he then tried to hack his wrists with a penknife but was again stopped. He was subsequently handed over to police and placed on remand in order to receive medical treatment.
Perry appears to have put his life back together by the late 1890s. By then he was practicing as a solicitor in Albert Street, North Sydney. In 1900 his testimonial was used in a newspaper advertising campaign by dentist, J. I. Marshall (see for example, Evening News 11 July 1900, p.5).
