John Prest (18 September 1928 – 3 July 2018) was a British historian.
He was born in Tadworth, Surrey, to Dorothy Martin (a watercolourist) and Thomas Prest (a civil servant). He was educated at Bradfield College in Berkshire.[1] He performed his national service in the Royal Air Force before attending King's College, Cambridge in 1949.[1] He gained a First and was made a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford in 1954, which he held until 1996.[1][2]
Whilst at Balliol, Prest campaigned for the admittance of women into the College and also for more state-educated pupils to be educated there.[2] After marrying Susan Davis in 1961, Prest moved to Walled Cottage in Wheatley, Oxfordshire.[1] His 1981 book, The Garden of Eden, was the result of his interest in horticulture and it led to him being awarded a trusteeship of the Oxford Botanic Garden and becoming a founding member of the National Botanic Garden of Wales.[1]
His last book, The Lucky Martins, was published in 2015 and was an account of his uncles' service in the First World War.[1] After his death, The Guardian said Prest would be "admired by future historians for his scholarship, humanity and intellectual independence".[1]