John Shelton (April 1923 – April 1993) was an English painter and ceramic artist born in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent. Shelton attended the Burslem School of Art from 1937 to 1942 where he studied under Reginald Haggar. A contemporary and friend of Arthur Berry, he was awarded a scholarship for the Slade School of Fine Art, London which he joined in 1945. He left the Slade in March 1946 due to the financial hardships of artistic life in London before returning to complete his scholarship from 1948-50. It was this in-between period in which Shelton changed his name from Hancock.