John Birkbeck (6 July 1817 – 31 July 1890) was a Yorkshireman, banker, alpinist, and pioneer potholer.Born in Settle and educated at the local Giggleswick School and Trinity College, Cambridge (although, as a Quaker, he could not take a degree) he spent most of his life in his home town where he was a partner in the Craven Bank, which his family had established in 1791. He was also a Justice of the Peace in later life.