John Cope was born on 1 November 1907, in Birmingham, the son of John, a master drysalter and his wife Rose, née Wigley. He went to school at King Edward's in Birmingham before proceeding to Trinity College, Cambridge. He received his medical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he became president of the rugby club, before house surgeon appointments in the surgical professorial unit and the ENT department. Aural surgery became his chosen specialty, serving in the Royal Air Force before his appointment as consultant to the Royal Waterloo Hospital, the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, and finally at St Bartholomew's Hospital where he was Dean of the Medical College from 1962 to 1968. He was elected as an examiner in the DLO examination, adviser in ENT to the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and President of the Otology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1970. Apart from rugby he was a keen hill walker, rock climber and also active as a Freemason where he rose to Grand rank. He also enjoyed shooting, fishing and gardening. In 1937 he married Muriel [Bunny] Pearce Brown and they had two sons, and a daughter who is medically qualified. He died on 15 June 1987 and his wife died on 8 August the same year.