John Fawcett Wightman was born in Sheffield in 1857, the fourth son of of Benjamin Wightman (c. 1816 - 1867), a highly regarded solicitor who established a successful practice in Sheffield in partnership with John William Pye Smith (1809 - 1865).

John Fawcett Wightman was a surveyor and architect, who worked for the family firm Messrs Wightman and Wightman, architects and surveyors, York Street, Sheffield.

He married Alice Stanley Cooke (1860 - 1893) in 1884 and they had two children: Stanley Wightman (1885 - 1978) and Gladys Wightman (1886 - 1974). The family lived at 50 Broomgrove Road, Sheffield.

Wightman died in Sheffield on 10 May 1892, aged 35. He was buried at the Sheffield General Cemetery.

The identities of two ladies in the photograph are not specified but they are probably two of John Fawcett Wightman's sisters: on the right thought to be Annie Maud Wightman (1854 - 1940) and on the left thought to be either Sophia Wightman (1858 - 1946) or Ada Wightman (1860 - 1942).

Original at Sheffield City Archives: X814/1/4/6.