D. The Johnson Families of Stafford Home Page Family History Smith Family Start 16 April 2007

Background:

Sarah Ann Johnson, the mother of Lillian Smith (Nan), was born on the 26^th of January, 1866. Her parents are clearly identified in the census’s as Charles and Elizabeth Johnson née Read.

St.Cath.Index Birth. : 1866, 1st Quarter, Stafford. 6b 17 (Sarah A. Johnson)

St.Cath.Index Marr. : 1884, 2nd Quarter, Stafford. 6b 40.

In the 1871 census, when Sarah Ann was identified, 11 Johnson families were living in Stafford.

The family history is divided into the following family lines:

1. The Johnson Family Line

2. The Parker Family Line.

3. The Read Line

1. The Johnson Family Line

The Johnson’s lived in Stafford in the early years of the nineteenth century. Thomas Johnson, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth Christened their son Richard in February 1813. At present no evidence has been found of Thomas Johnson’s birth (Nan’s great Grandfather). But it may be relevant that a Richard Johnson (parish of Bartomeley in Cheshire) married Sarah Skaw on 31st Dec 1778 at St.Mary’s Church, Stafford (both partners signed their names).

Richard Johnson (Nan’s great-grandfather) aged 22 and Sarah Parker (the 19 year old daughter of George Parker, a shoe maker, and Jane Ford) married in 1835. As is evidenced from the marriage certificate neither partner could read or write:

Figure 22 Marriage Record of Richard Johnson and Sarah Parker in 1835

Page	MARRIAGE solemnised in the Parish of St. Mary in Stafford .
186	in the County of Stafford in the Year 1835 .
	Richard Johnson of this Parish
	Bachelor .
	and Sarah Parker of this Parish
	Spinster .
	were married in this Church by Banns with consent of
	this Seventeenth Day of
	October in the Year One thousand eight hundred and thirty five .
	By me Robert Temple Curate .
	This Marriage was solemnised between us ( Richard Johnson’s X mark
	( Sarah Johnson’s X mark
	In the Presence of ( Thomas Phillips
	( John Tildesley
	No.406

Richard and Sarah’s first child was born c.1836. In the 1841 census, Sarah’s younger sister Elizabeth Parker was living with the couple and their three children. Like Robert Willetts Smith (I), Richard Johnson is a journeyman shoe maker.

Census 1841 last quarter of film Parish of St.Mary

No .	Address	Name of Resid’s	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
ED 7		Richard Johnson	25	Shoe M. J.	Y
F 6		*Sarah Do*	20		Y
P 4		Frances Do	5		Y
		Jane Do	2		Y
		Eliza Do	3wks		Y
		Elizabeth Parker	15	?. S.	Y

Two years later Charles, Nan’s grandfather, was christened on Aug 6 1843 @ St.Mary’s. St.Cath.Index Birth. : 1843, 3rd Quarter, Stafford. XXII ??

Richard and Thomas were born in 1849 and 1850. Thus, by 1851 Richard and Sarah had six children. In the 1851 census the baby Eliza’s full name, Elizabeth, is given.

The 1851 census record is one of the few occasions when it is evident that the wife worked with her husband at shoemaking. Sarah is described as a shoe binder. Frances, the eldest son, is ‘generously’ described as a cordwainer. Only the children under the age of ten are called scholars.

Census Year: 1851 E.D. 9d

No .	Address	Name of Resid’s	Relation	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
F177	3 Mill	Richard Johnson	Head	39	Cordwainer	Stafford
P.48	Bank	*Sarah Do*	Wife	35	Shoe binder	Stafford
S191		Frances Do	Son	14	Cordwainer	Stafford
		Jane Do	Dau	12		Stafford
		Elizabeth Do	Dau	9	Scholar	Stafford
		Charles Do	Son	7	Do	Stafford
		Richard Do	Son	2		Stafford
		Thomas Do	Son	1		Stafford

Sarah bore four more children before the 1861 census. Altogether the couple had ten children. But, some time between 1854 and 1860, the couple’s son Richard must have died because, in 1860, they gave their last child the same name. Sadly since this Richard isn’t included in the 1861 census it can only be presumed that he died as a baby.

Strong evidence that Richard and Sarah were Nan’s greatgrandparents came with the discovery that their son Charles was the only Charles Johnson, of the correct age, living at Stafford in 1861.

By 1861 the two eldest children have left home, presumably in order to get married.

Census Year:1861 Enum.Dist.No. 13 St Mary’s Parish, Stafford East Ward

No .	Address	Name of Resid’s	Relation	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
F.87	24 Tenter	*Richard Johnson*	*Head*	47	Cordwainer	Stafford
P.38	Banks	*Sarah*	*Wife*	46	Binders	Stafford
S247	(the name	Charles	*son*	17	Cordwainer	Stafford
	is difficult	Thomas	son	11		Stafford
	to read)	Ann	dau	10
		William	son	7
		Sarah	dau	3

Charles Johnson married Elizabeth Read (born c1846 @ Dudley) @ Stafford in 1863. According to the marriage certificate Elizabeth’s father (John Read) had died. (The full address on the wedding certificate provides a possibility that the Reads can be found in the 1861 Stafford census.)

St.Cath.Ind.Marr: Charles Johnson&Elizabeth Read: 1863 Q3 @ Stafford 6b 42

Figure 23 Marriage Certificate of Charles Johnson and Elizabeth Read 1863


Certified Copy of Entry of an Entry of Marriage
Registration District: Stafford
Marriage Solemnised at: the Zion Chapel, Stafford
Year: 1863 District of: Stafford in the County of Stafford
No	When Married	Name and Surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at time of Marriage	Father’s Name	Rank or Prof of Father
8	Thirteenth of September	Charles Johnson	21 yrs	Bachelor	Journey-man Shoe maker	Tenter Banks Stafford	Richard Johnson	Journ-eyman Shoe maker
	1863	Elizabeth Read	18 yrs	Spinster	Shoe Binder	Newport Rd Farebridge Castle Ch.	John Read Dec-eased	Journ-eyman Shoe maker
Married in the Zion Chapel, Stafford according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Independents by me, George Swann
Marriage was ( Charles Johnson ) in the ( Francis Johnson solemnised ( X The mark of Elizabeth ) Presence ( X The mark of Jane between us ( Read ) of us ( Ecclestone

Confirmation of Relationships: Richard’s name on the wedding certificate, plus the names of Charles’s own children confirmed that Sarah’s grandparents were Richard Johnson and Sarah Parker. NB whilst Charles’ employment appears convincing it is essential to recognise that all but one of the other Johnson families were also employed in the boot and shoe trade!

Nine months later the Charles and Elizabeth named their first child after Charles’s father Richard. Giving their first son his Grandfather’s name was clearly significant, though it must have meant that they weren’t superstitious about the fact that Richard and Sarah had lost two sons named Richard.

St.Cath.Index Birth: Richard Johnson: 1864, Q2 @ Stafford Vol.6b; p23

Sarah Ann Johnson, Nan’s mother, was born on January 26th 1866.

Figure 24 Birth Certificate of Sarah Ann Johnson 1866


Certified Copy of Entry of Birth
Registration District Stafford
Year: 1866 Sub-district of: Castle Church in County of: Stafford
No	When & Born	Name and surname if any	Sex	Name & Surname of Father	Name, surname Maiden name of Mother	Occup Father	Signature Residence	When Reg.
441	26th January 1866 Fore-bridge Castle Church	Sarah Ann	Girl	Charles Johnson	Elizabeth Johnson formerly Read	Cord-wainer master	X The mark of Charles Johnson Father Forebridge Castle Church	26th Feb. 1866

Whilst his children continued to work in the shoe industry, Richard became a greengrocer. Francis is Richard’s son (N.B. Francis’s son, Richard, died aged 20 in 1880 - St.Catherine’s Index: Stafford Q2, 6b, 6. Richard was definitely not a lucky name for the Johnson’s.)

Census Year:1871

Civil Parish : St Mary Borough: Stafford Ward: East

No .	Address	Name of Resid’s	Relation	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
ED13	32 Tenter	Richard Johnson	Head	60	Greengrocer	Stafford
F.40	Banks	*Sarah*	Wife	56		Stafford
P.21		Ann	dau	19	Shoe Machinist	Stafford
S148		William	son	17	Boot Filler	Stafford
		Sarah	dau	12	Scholar	Stafford

ED13	30 Tenter	Francis Johnson	Head	36	Shoemaker	Stafford
F.40	Banks	Elizabeth do	Wife	39		Stafford
P.21		Richard	Son	11	Scholar	Stafford
S145		Elizabeth	dau	9	do	Stafford
		Emma	dau	5	do	Stafford
		Francis	Son	3		Stafford

ED16	3 Union	Charles Johnson	Head	27	Cordwainer	Stafford
F100	Str	*Elizabeth do*	Wife	25	Fitter	Dudley,
P 20		Richard do	son	7	Scholar	Stafford
S112		Sarah A. do	dau	5	Scholar	Stafford
ED20
F63	62 Foregate	George Parker	Head	50	Clicker	Stafford
S49:P9	Street	Martha	Wife	53		Stafford

Comment: George Parker is the brother of Sarah Parker (Richard Johnson’s wife). Her brother Richard was a witness at Sarah and Robert W. Smith’s wedding in 1884.

Sarah’s grandfather, Richard, died on the 6th December 1880 aged 68:

St.Cath.Index Death: Richard Johnson: 1880, Q4 @ Stafford Vol.6b; p9 age 68

Figure 25 Death Certificate of Richard Johnson 1880 No entry in Index of Wills.


Certified Copy of Entry of Death
Registration District Stafford
Year: 1880 Sub-district of: Stafford in County of: Stafford
No	When & Where Died	Name Surname	Sex	Age	Occup-ation	Cause of Death	Name & Address of Informant
259	Sixth December 1880 Mill Street Stafford	Richard Johnson	Male	68 Years	Green-Grocer	Congestion of lungs Collapse	X The mark of Sarah Johnson Widow of Dec. Present at death Mill Street Stafford

Date of Registration: 6 Dec 1880

Sarah kept the greengrocery business going.

Census Year:1881 Enumeration District No. 25

No .	Address	Name of Resid’s	Relation	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
ED23	27	*Charles Johnson*	*Head*	38	Boot Finisher	Stafford
F86	Backwalls	*Elizabeth*	*Wife*	34	Boot Needle Fitter	Stafford
P44	South	Richard	son	17	Boot Finisher	Stafford
S212		*Sarah A.*	*dau*	15	Boot Needle Fitter	Stafford
		Sarah Chick	Boarder
F115	P5
S15	10 Mill Str	*Sarah Johnson*	*Head/wid*	66	Green Grocer	Stafford

Sarah Ann Johnson married Robert Willetts Smith (III) on June 2nd 1884 (see earlier section) and bore Lillian Smith on August 15th 1884. The marriage, according to Nancy Nichols, only lasted 3 yrs and the family has no idea what happened to Sarah. Certainly Sarah had definitely left Robert and her daughter Lillian by 1891 because she is then living with her parents:

Census Year: 1891 Archive Reel Description 91/55

Nos.	Address	Residents Names	Relation	Age	Occupation		Birth Place
ED21	13 Clark	*Charles Johnson*	*Head*	48	Shoe Finisher		Stafford
F147	Street	*Elizabeth do*	*Wife*	46		~~Dudley~~ Stafford
P34		Richard do	Son	27	Shoe Finisher		Stafford
&35		*Sarah A. Smith*	*Visit./M*	25	Tailoress		Stafford
S183		William Read	Lodger/M	48			Stafford

2. The Parker Line

The only evidence is of George Parker and Jane Ford’s wedding record at St.Mary’s church 1814.

Figure 26 Marriage Records of George Parker and Jane Ford 1814

	George Parker Bachelor of this Parish
	and Jane Ford Spinster of this Parish
	were married in this Church by Banns .
	this Fourteenth Day of May in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred
	and Fourteen By me Ed. J.Rathbone, Offic. Minister .
	This Marriage was solemnised between us (George Parker X his mark
	(Jane Ford X her mark
	In the Presence of ( William Yates X his mark .
	( Thos. Tildesley
	No.79

Sarah Parker was christened two years later in 1816.

3. The Read Line

It is known that Elizabeth Johnson’s father was John Read. According to the census, Elizabeth was born in Dudley - but if so, Elizabeth was not present when the 1841 and 1851 censuses were searched. The John and Mary below had a daughter named Elizabeth of the correct age but, according to the parish records, that Elizabeth died young.

Census Year: 1841 Township of Dudley

Place	Houses Unin habit	NAMES Inhabitants	AGE & Sex M F	Profession	Born County
ED14		John Read	25	Furnace Man	Y
F26, P2		Mary do	25		Y
Birmingham		William do	6		Y
Street		Mary do	2		Y
		Hannah do	3mo		Y

F45, P40		William Read	15	Nailer	N

This family and another John/Mary were also found in 1851. But neither family had a daughter named Elizabeth living with them.

Census 1851: 2032 Dudley 5 Dudley Part 1 2-52 F63 P52

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Figure 22 Marriage Record of Richard Johnson and Sarah Parker in 1835

Richard Johnson

Birth Place

Richard Johnson

Bank

Charles Do

Charles

Figure 23 Marriage Certificate of Charles Johnson and Elizabeth Read 1863

Certified Copy of Entry of an Entry of Marriage

Registration District: Stafford

Bachelor

Married in the Zion Chapel, Stafford according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Independents by me, George Swann

between us ( Read ) of us ( Ecclestone

Figure 24 Birth Certificate of Sarah Ann Johnson 1866

Richard Johnson

Charles Johnson

Figure 25 Death Certificate of Richard Johnson 1880 No entry in Index of Wills.

Shoe Finisher

P34

Shoe Finisher