John Arundel Paynter was born at Broken Hill in 1892. He attended Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. Paynter was a junior cataloguer at the Public Library when he first enlisted on 9 February 1916. While in the Exhibition Camp in Adelaide however, he suffered from 'dyspepsia' - the doctor stated on his medical record that he had been ill for six weeks of the three months he had served and 'camp fare does not agree with him' (AIF service record, p. 25). Paynter was discharged as medically unfit 22 May 1916 and returned to work at the Library. His ill health caused him to resign from his post at the Library at the end of 1916, but he was subsequently re-appointed in a temporary capacity to cover for the absence of other staff members who were on active service (Report of ...the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery...1916-1917, p. 9). Paynter enlisted again on 30 July 1917 but in October while still in training camp (at Mitcham) he was hospitalised with gastritis. Paynter was discharged medically unfit for a second time on 14 December 1917.
In 1918 Paynter was appointed to the position of Second Assistant Librarian of the South Australian Parliamentary Library. He married Nellie Symonds on 28 January 1919. They divorced in March 1930. Paynter married Jean McPherson on 11 August 1936 and they had two children, Marleen and John. He died, aged 87, 4 January 1979.
