John Hall Gladstone was born on March 7, 1827, in London, England.

He was a British chemist and philanthropist. He was educated privately before studying chemistry at University College London and at the University of Giessen, Germany. On his return to London in 1850, he was appointed Lecturer in Chemistry in St. Thomas's Hospital, and in 1853, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He served on the Royal Commission on Lighthouses, Buoys, and Beacons (1859-1862) and on the Gun Cotton Committee (1864–1868). During 1874–1877, Gladstone held the Fullerian Professorship of Chemistry at the Royal Institution and was first President of the Physical Society, of which he was one of the founders. He was also President of the Chemical Society from 1877 to 1879. He helped lay the foundation of modern physical chemistry.

In 1852, he married Jane May Tilt (1830–1864) and in 1869, he married Margaret Thompson King (1844–1870). He died on October 6, 1902, in London, England.