John Dalrymple was born circa 1705 most likely in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dalrymple was a British army officer who served as commander of Fort Johnston (Brunswick County) in the 1750s and 1760s. Sometime before 1760 he left North Carolina and went to England without permission, leaving Fort Johnston without a commander during wartime. Dalrymple reappeared in 1762 ready to resume his post, but Dobbs had him arrested instead. Dobbs was imprisoned at Fort Johnston, where he frequently was combative with the soldiers there. By September 1763, Dobbs ordered him moved to house arrest, but Dalrymple disobeyed and left the province altogether. Following Dobbs's death in 1765, Dalrymple returned and again took up his appointment as commander of Fort Johnston, at which place he died on July 13, 1766.