John Paul was born at the Arbigland estate, located near Kirkbean in southern Scotland. His father, John Paul Sr., worked as a gardener for the landowner William Craik. On November 29, 1733, he married Jean Duff, the mother of John Paul, in New Abbey, Kirkcudbright. Today, this is a museum house where John Paul Jones, the future admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, spent his childhood.