John Philemon Backhouse was born in England and emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand in 1865.

In the 1870s he set up a sign-writing business and he produced illuminations for Auckland's Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria. By the end of the 19th century, he appears to have made his living selling art and was listed as an Auckland artist from 1894-1901 in Wises.

The Alexander Turnbull Library holds several naïve oil paintings by Backhouse made in and around the central North Island from the 1880s, picturing Māori cultural scenes, as well as tourist sites, including the Pink and White terraces at Rotomahana. They also hold sketchbooks demonstrating more sensitive depictions in pencil and watercolour of landscapes and studies of insects and birds.

Backhouse seems to have found his niche producing small, souvenir-like works, including watercolours of native flora and postcards, but he is best known for his paintings of New Zealand views on shells.