J.L.A. Grout was born on 28th March 1889 in Wolverhampton, the son of a medical practitioner. He was educated at Wrekin College and Birmingham University where he qualified MRCS, LRCP in 1913.

During World War 1, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, rising to the rank of major, and during his time with the 13th Field Ambulance in the Italian Campaign he was awarded the Military Cross for attention to the wounded under fire.

After the War, he returned to general practice in Walsall, then went to train in the new science of radiology, obtaining the DMRE from the University of Cambridge. He was appointed honorary radiologist to the Royal Hospital in Sheffield in 1925, and continued to serve in the city and region until his retirement in 1955. During this time he was also Honorary Lecturer in Radiology at the University of Sheffield, which marked its appreciation of his work with the award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1956. In the same year, he was also awarded the CBE in recognition of his service in the successful launching of the National Health Service and to the University Medical School. During his long career, Grout served on many different boards, committees and societies both locally and nationally, including as President of the Sheffield Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1950-1951 and as Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee from 1951.

Grout married Mary Elizabeth Harris in 1919, and was widowed in 1956, seven years before his own death in November 1963.