Lt Col John Alfred Codrington (28 October 1898 – 25 April 1991) was a career soldier with a life-long interest in plants and flowers. He was born in London, the son of Lieutenant General Sir Alfred Codrington (1854–1945) and Adela Harriet née Portal (1859–1935). As a boy aged 6–7 he painted four sets of flowers, nineteen paintings in all. The interest never left him and, while serving, he would write long letters to Wild Flower Magazine. In 1936 he married Primrose Harley with a shared interest in gardens and in painting; they divorced in 1942. He died at his London home in 1991.