The John Seymour School
for Self-Sufficiency
About Will Sutherland
Born in 1945, Will grew up on a traditional mixed farm in Northumberland. After taking a BA degree at Cambridge , he took a Diploma in Farm Management and MSc in Agricultural Economics before moving to Whitehall as a civil servant. His 10 years in public service included spells in the Department of the Environment, the Treasury and Westminster City Council; Will then joined Ernst and Young as a Management Consultant.
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Will followed his interest in the political process and environmental politics by attending the Rio Earth summit in 1992 and afterwards editing and publishing the NGO Alternative Treaties.
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In 1991 Will met John and decided to leave London to help run John's smallholding in Ireland. Will worked with John on a number of projects including extending and rewriting the "New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency" and the continuing teaching of "self sufficiency".
About John Seymour
(born in 1914- died 2004)
As soon as John finished school he left England to live in Africa where he worked as a veterinary office, miner and fisherman. During the second world war he fought in Ethiopia and Burmah.
After the war John returned to England where he lived and worked on a sailing barge before becoming a smallholder, writer and broadcaster. His initial experiences are vividly described in his book "The Fat of the Land". His distinctive way of life soon became a magnet for people interested in an alternative lifestyle including such visionary thinkers as Leopold Kohr and E F Schumacher.
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In 1981 he decided to "retire" and moved to Ireland to start a new life.
Over the years John wrote over 30 books. In his later years he became a popular TV commentator and an outspoken environmental campaigner who was arrested in 1999 for destroying genetically engineered sugar beet.
