John Bland was born in 1612 and was the second eldest son of John Bland and Susan DeBlere. Throughout his life, John enjoyed learning about business, and he penned multiple compositions on commerce and trade. Furthermore, John worked alongside an abundance of merchants who were from London. He practiced Anglicanism, and he was wed to a lady named Sarah Greene, who was the daughter of a Puritan Parliamentarian Giles Greene.
Although he was on the Loyalist side during the English Civil War, John Bland was accused by the British Parliament, alongside his brother Thomas, of embezzling six thousand pounds of Yorkshire rents in 1648. However, it was later revealed that Parliament only wished to do this act to annoy John's father-in-law Giles Greene. Moreover, Sir Henry Vane was able to eliminate all charges. Seven years later, John obtained a position as a supplier for the British Navy when Britain was fighting Spain. During the fighting, John made his brother George Bland fight alongside William Bland, but both William and George perished in the skirmishes. Other sad occurrences happened to John in the 1650s, such as two of his sons passing away, and two other brothers, Adam and Edward, passed away while residing in Virginia.
When the Stuart dynasty returned to England in 1660 after Charles II ascended the throne, John Bland and his wife Sarah started to experience a better life, although there were a few quibbles. In 1663, John wrote a grievance to the King that protested certain aspects of the Acts of Trade. According to John, the Acts were ill-conceived and doomed to failure because they excluded Hollanders. Also, the Acts forced goods to be cleared via English ports only. On the flip side, their only surviving offspring, named Giles, resided with them in a home near to the River Thames and the London Navy Yard. Due to him acquiring a larger influence in King Chares II's government, John was able to experience an increase in commerce. In addition, John befriended Samuel Pepys, and Pepys introduced John to Thomas Povey. Povey was a Master of Request of King Charles II, and he was the treasurer of the Tangier Colony until 1665. After learning more about the Tangier Colony, John was enthralled, and he and Giles relocated to the colony in October 1664. By 1668, John became the mayor.
Throughout his life, John Bland did not care for the militarization of leadership or any kind of irrational control by the government. He especially did not like the military presence in the Tangier Colony. Their presence, John argued, halted the success of free trade in the area. Once he became mayor, John squabbled with Colonel Henry Norwood, who he blamed for stealing from soldiers and selling wine without a license. Giles also aided his father in slandering Norwood. However, the Duke of York, James Stuart, proclaimed that John Bland and his accomplices were the primary source of malice for the Tangier Colony. By 1676, John started having transgressions in his holdings in the Virginia Colony, so he had to leave his post in Tangier.
John Bland's son Giles was sent to the Virginia Colony to take care of family affairs in the area. However, Giles did not wish to take part in the affairs, and he disliked any kind of higher authority. Eventually, this loathing led him to join Nathaniel Bacon in Bacon's Rebellion, and the rebellion led to his ultimate hanging in the streets of Jamestown. John did not get word of his son's hanging until six weeks later while residing in London. He then relocated Giles' wife to London, and she gave birth to a son named John on November 5, 1677. Also, John edited his will in 1680 to allow for Giles' wife to receive aid after he passed away. Moreover, John made Sarah his power of attorney, and, since Giles could not efficiently deal with the Bland family property in Virginia, he forced her to head to Virginia. While she did succeed in giving two thousand acres of Kymages to Edward Bland, Sarah could not sway Anne Bennett Bland. In 1680, John passed away, and Sarah had to give up on her escapades in Virginia and return to London.