John Ladds was born in Ellington, Cambridgeshire, England on 22 April 1835. By 1861 he was practising as an architect in Ellington, however, it is not known where and with whom he trained. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1869.
By 1867 he had moved to 4 Chapel Street, Bedford Row, London. By 1881 he was living in the parish of St. George Martyr, London. In the 1891 England and Wales Census his address was given as 7 Doughty Street, St. Pancras, London, where he remained until at least 1901. In 1911 his address was given as 93 Pemberton Road, Harringay, Middlesex [now London] and it was in Harringay that he practised as an architect for the remainder of his career as an architect.
Ladds died on 15 October 1926. At the time of his death his address was given as 93 Pemberton Road, Harringay, Middlesex. His son, Sidney Inskip Ladds (1867-1980) was also an architect
Notable among Ladds' work were St John's Church in Lawley, Shropshire (1865); The National School in Newport, Shropshire (1872); The Corn Exchange in Bedford, Bedfordshire (1872-74); Bowlee School in Rhodes near Manchester (1875); Church School in Tonge, Alkrington, Lancashire (1875); The Town Hall in Chorley, Lancashire (1875); Christ Church in Marton Cum Grafton, Yorkshire (1876); The Grammar School in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire (1877); St James' Church in Chorley, Lancashire (1878); the redecoration of the chancel in the Church of St John the Evangelist, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire (1879-80); Boxmoor Schools in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire (1880); Rivington and Blackrod High School in Rivington, Bolton, Lancashire (1881-82); St Paul's Church in Finchley, London (1886); extensions and rebuilding of Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls in High Barnet, London (1890); New reredos for St Mary's Church in East Farleigh, Kent (1894); the Ophthalmic Hospital in Judd Street, London (1911-12); and the Harringay war memorial, installed inside St. Paul's Church, Harringay (1922)
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001