John Tripp was born in Bargoed, a town some fifteen miles north of Cardiff in Glamorgan, Wales, to Henry Paul and Muriel Williams Tripp. His family moved to Whitchurch, in Cardiff, when he was still a boy, and he completed his schooling at the Whitchurch Senior School, Cardiff. From 1945 to 1948 he served as a sergeant in the Royal Army Pay Corps. He later attended Morley College in London, where he received a diploma in moral philosophy in 1963.

His early life in Wales has had a lasting influence on his poetry. "The major themes in my work," he once wrote, "have to do with Wales, its history and people, from the viewpoint of one who is extremely conscious of his roots. I have tried to create a small document about my country, its harsh past, its difficult present, and its chances for the future--including the preservation of the Welsh...