Researching St John

The Heraldry of St John Ambulance Australia

It appears Elizabeth Hunter has something planned for the St Johns boys at Rowany Festival this year. As I had researched her popular dragon banner from two (?) years ago she's asked me to find an image of St John. The big question is, Which St John? Wikipedia has a massive list of them.

According to the St John Ambulance Historical society, "In the Nineteenth Century a group of citizens revived the Order of St John in England, drawing their inspiration from the example of the Knights of St John who in medieval times,". The order was involved in volunteer assitance for the sick. This movement was spread to Australia in 1884.  (St John Ambulance Australia). While important this history is far too current, and the Order of St John / Knights of St John are more relevant to our research. For those interested the Historical Society of St Johns Ambulance publishes a free history journal with some very detail articles on a range of topics, from language, to coinage, to the forefathers of the organisation

So we can safely assume that any St John post-1884 is not our man.

• John the Evangelist (born 1st century), speculated author of the Fourth Gospel, traditionally identified with John the Apostle
• John of Patmos, author of the Book of Revelation, traditionally identified with John the Apostle and Evangelist
• John the Baptist, preacher, ascetic (c. 5 BC – c. 30 AD), and reported baptizer of Jesus Christ
• John the Wonderworking Unmercenary (d. c. 304), Egyptian or Mesopotamian healer
• John Chrysostom (c. 340 – 407), Antiochene Archbishop of Constantinople
• John Cassian (360 – 435), probably Scythia-Minor priest and abbot
• John and Paul (d. 362), Roman martyrs
• John of Egypt (d. 394), Egyptian hermit
• John the Silent (452-558), Bishop of Taxara
• Pope John I (died 526), Italian pope
• John of Ephesus (507-586), Syrian ecclesiatical historian
• John Climacus (525–606), Syrian or Byzantine monk and abbot
• John Scholasticus (died 577), 32nd Patriarch of Constantinople
• Patriarch John IV of Constantinople (d. 595), also known as John the Faster, first Ecumenical Patriarch
• John the Merciful (died c. 610), Cyprian Patriarch of Alexandria
• John of Damascus (676–749), Syrian monk and priest, also known as John Damascene
• John of Beverley (died 721), Angle bishop
• John of Pavia (died 813), Bishop of Pavia
• John of Rila (876–946), Bulgarian priest and hermit
• John Gualbert (985-1073), Founder of the Vallumbrosan Order
• John Theristus (1049-1129), Italian benedictine monk
• John of Pulsano (1070-1139), or Giovanni di Matera, Italian abbot
• John of the Grating (1098-1168), Bishop of Aleth
• John of Matha (1160–1213), French priest; founder of the Trinitarian Order
• John of Meda (died 1159), Italian priest
• John Kukuzelis (1280-1360), Bulgarian composer, singer and reformer
• John of Nepomuk (1340–1393), Bohemian vicar general of Jan of Jenštejn
• Giovanni da Capistrano (1386–1456), Italian friar; summoner of European troops for the 1456 siege of Belgrade
• John Cantius (1390-1473), Polish priest and theologian
• John of Sahagún (1419-1479) Spanish priest
• John Fisher (c. 1460 – 1535), English cardinal and martyr
• Juan Diego (1474-1548), first Native-American saint
• John Houghton (martyr) (c. 1480 – 1535), English abbot and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John de Ribera (1532-1611), or Juan de Ribera, Bishop of Valencia
• John Stone (martyr) (died 1539 / died 1539), English friar and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John of God (1495–1550), Portuguese friar; founder of the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God
• John of Avila (1500–1569), Spanish Jewish converso priest, missionary and mystic
• John Payne (martyr) (1532–1582), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Leonardi (1541–1609), Italian priest; founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca
• John of the Cross (1542–1591), Spanish Jewish converso friar, priest and mystic; joint founder of the Discalced Carmelites
• John Boste (c. 1540 – 1594), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Rigby (martyr) (c. 1570 – 1600), English martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Roberts (martyr) (c. 1570 – 1610 / c. 1570 – 1610), Welsh priest, Prior of Saint Gregory's (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Sarkander (1576–1620), Polish priest and martyr
• John Ogilvie (saint) (1579–1615), Scottish priest and martyr
• John Jones (martyr) (16th century – 1598), Welsh priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Macias (1585-1645), Spanish missionary
• John Southworth (martyr) (1592–1654), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649), French missionary and martyr (one of the North American Martyrs)
• John Francis Regis (1597-1640), French priest
• John Kemble (martyr) (1599–1679), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Berchmans (1599-1621) Flemish seminarian
• John Eudes (1601-1680), or Jean Eudes, French priest and founder of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary
• Jean de Lalande (1615-1646), French missionary and martyr (one of the North American Martyrs)
• John Wall (priest) (1620–1679), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Plessington (c. 1630 – 1679), English priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John de Brito (1647-1693), Portuguese missionary and martyr
• John of Tobolsk (1651-1715), Metropolitan of Tobolsk
• Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719), French priest; founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
• John Joseph of the Cross (1654–1739), Ischian friar, priest and Vicar Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy
• Saint John Lloyd (died 1679), Welsh priest and martyr (one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales)
• John Dat (c. 1765 – 1798), Vietnamese priest and martyr
• Jean Vianney (1786–1859), French priest
• John Hoan Trinh Doan (c. 1789 / 1798 – 1861), Vietnamese priest and martyr
• John Thanh Van Dinh (1796–1840), Vietnamese martyr
• John Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840), or Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, French missionary and martyr
• John Baptist Con (1805–1840), Vietnamese martyr
• John Charles Cornay (1809-1837), or Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and martyr
• John Neumann (1811–1860), Bohemian missionary, Bishop of Philadelphia, founder of the first American Catholic diocesan school system
• John Baptist Y (1800–1839), one of the Korean Martyrs

• John Bosco (1815–1888), Italian priest and educator; founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Salesian Cooperators
• John of Kronstadt (1829–1908), Russian archpriest and synod member
• John of Shanghai and San Francisco (1898-1966), also known as John the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco