John Tyndall was born at Stork Nest, Topsham Road in Exeter, Devon, on 14 July 1934, the son of Nellie Tyndall, "née" Parker, and George Francis Tyndall. Through the Tyndall family line he was related to both the early English translator of the Bible, William Tyndale, and the physicist John Tyndall. His paternal family were British Unionists living in County Waterford, Ireland, who had a long line of service in the Royal Irish Constabulary. His grandfather had been a district inspector in the Constabulary and had fought against the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence. His father had moved to England, working as a Metropolitan Police officer, and then as a warden of St George's House, a YMCA hostel in Southwark. Tyndall later stated that despite his father having been raised in a British Unionist family, the latter had adopted internationalist views. He claimed that his mother exhibited "a kind of basic British patriotism" and that it was she who shaped his early political views. His upbringing was emotionally stable and materially secure. Tyndall studied at Beckenham and Penge Grammar School in west Kent, where he attained three O-levels, a "moderate" result. At the school, his achievements had been sporting rather than academic, for he enjoyed playing cricket and association football and developed a passion for fitness.