John Hawkins established J B Hawkins Antiques in Australia in 1967, he is a founder member of the Australian Antique & Art Dealers’ Association and its immediate past President.

Born and educated in England, he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment in 1962. Resigning his commission he emigrated to Australia in 1967.

In 1973 he wrote the catalogue of an exhibition held by the National Trust in Sydney, titled Australian Silver 1800 - 1900. Three further books have been written Thomas Cole and Victorian Clockmaking, (1975) The Al Tajir Collection of Silver (1985) and Nineteenth Century Australian Silver (1990).