Looking for descendents of Rev. Richard Johnson, first fleet Australia
sommerled
The Reverend Richard Johnson arrived in Australia on the first fleet in 1788. (b. 1755 in Yorkshire; d. 1827 England)
Married in England on 4 Dec 1786 to Mary Burton (b. Abt 1753 parish of St Poultry, London; d. 1831 England)
Had three children
1. stillborn Oct 1788 Australia
2. Milbah Johnson (b. 1790 NSW, Australia; d. 1803 England)
3. Henry Martin Johnson (b. 1792 NSW) returned to England with family in 1800; married Hannah Bartram 1815.
Who were Henry and Hannah's children? Any help much appreciated.
UPDATE: 25 November 2009 - Henry and Hannah had no known issue. Claims that William Jonathan Johnson is a descendant of the Reverend Richard Johnson are unjustified. The Rev. Johnson may however, be a great uncle to William Jonathan Johnson, as his brother, Robert Ebenezer Johnson lived with his great aunt, who (according to information provided by Ruth Fielding), was Rev. Johnson's sister.
Comments
Misterion on 2009-01-05 02:07:49Hi Sommerled,
I am also looking for info on Rev Richard Johnson. What year did he come back to Aus? I am a descendent of him, on the Johnson, Parkins, Donnelly side.
Henry married Hannah, unsure of date/surname.
If you have any info that would be great. Any more questions feel free to contact me.
Kind regards,
Katrina
sommerled on 2009-01-06 02:30:00Hi Katrina
Anecdotally, our Johnsons are descended from the Reverend Richard Johnson but we have no proof of this.
We are able to trace our line back to Richard Johnson who married Jane Frances Morris on 27 Mar 1847 in Newtown, NSW, Australia. This is where we hit a brick wall.
We decided to try to trace the line from the other direction. We were only able to find three children of Rev. Richard Johnson. There may be more. I have seen nothing to indicate that Rev. Richard Johnson returned to Australia.
We have been able to find information about two other descendents at https://www.ccsl.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=258&Itemid=179
William Jonathan Johnson (1810-1866) arrived in Sydney in 1836 with his brother James. He is supposedly a descendant of the Rev Richard Johnson. For this to be true William and James would have to be Henry's sons (unless Henry had brothers we do not know about).
Do you have any details of Henry and Hannah's children?
Best wishes
Nel
sommerled on 2009-01-09 14:52:34We have downloaded a copy of Rev. Richard Johnson's last Will and Testament dated 21 Sep 1826, from the UK National Archives Public Record Office. The only family members noted are his wife, Mary Johnson, son Henry Martin Johnson and daughter in law Hannah Johnson.
Misterion on 2009-01-26 02:50:28Good evening Nel,
Would it be possible for you to email me a copy of this will and testament? It seems we have similar grey areas. We have details going back a few generations but the link after Richard Johnson is blurry.
Appreciate any help. It is good to know someone else is also searching for all the connections!
Kind regards,
Katrina
sommerled on 2009-03-06 18:46:07Hi Katrina
Send me your email address via Messages.
I found more information in the UK National Archives. Hannah's maiden name is Bartram.
Hannah had two brothers, John and William, and a sister, Ann. Her mother's name is Hannah and her father's name is John.
Best wishes
Nel
rerj37 on 2012-08-09 13:59:27I hope this still reaches you.
I am also a descendant not of the Rev. Richard, but of Richard Johnson, a London clockmaker who emigrated to Sydney in 1833 with several of his children aboard a ship named LAYTON.
The version of the family legend I heard from Ruth Fielding was that Robert Ebenezer Johnson, one of this Richard's sons, stayed behind to finish his legal training, and was 'adopted' by his relative Ann Leicester, nee Johnson, supposed to be a sister of the Rev. Richard. This now seems unlikely, as the Rev. Richard had only one female sibling, Mary.
William Jonathan, incidentally, was a brother of Robert Ebenezer and a son of the clockmaker Richard, who was not a young man when he emigrated, dying ten years or so later in Maitland, NSW.
I am currently in Beverley, E Yorkshire, researching the family of the the parents of the Rev. Richard. I did not have much joy at the London Guildhall, researching the origins of the clockmaker Richard. The family legend was that he emigrated because his father's Will left the business to Richard's elder brother, who seems to have died before the Census of 1841, although a Hannah Johnstone (sic), watchmaker is listed at his address, 2 Elm St, Gray's Inn Lane, with several offspring.
Please contact me if you have more information.
Robin Johnson