Richard

Richard Johnson (1819-1878)
Jane Frances Morris (1827-1885)

Jump down to the list of their children

Richard Johnson was born on 13 Feb 1819 and baptised on 23 May 1819 in Old Church, St Pancras Church, Camden, England, his parents being Richard Johnson & Elizabeth Phillips. The online record is quite faint, but shows his father to be a watchmaker:

He arrived in Sydney with his parents and most of his siblings on 15th August 1833 aboard the ship Layton.

Richard married Jane Frances Morris on 27 Mar 1847 at Newtown. Jane was born in Aug 1827 at Camberwell, Surrey, England, her parents being John Morris & Jane Frances Watkins. She passed away on 11 Apr 1885 in Dubbo, New South Wales.

Richard became a solicitor, his name appearing in a list of new attorneys in The Sydney Morning Herald on Mon 10 Nov 1845. For some years he worked in partnership with his brother Robert Johnson, who had been admitted to the bar in 1942. When Robert died suddenly in 1966 he entered a new partnership with one John Martin:

From The Sydney Morning Herald, Mon 02 Jan 1865:

NOTICE.- The PARTNERSHIP hitherto subsisting between ROBERT JOHNSON and RICHARD JOHNSON as Attorneys, Solicitors, and Proctors, under the style of “Johnson and Johnson,” is this day DISSOLVED.

ROBERT JOHNSON.
166, Pitt-street, Sydney, 31st December, 1864.

From The Sydney Morning Herald, Fri 27 Jan 1865:

MR. RICHARD JOHNSON, Solicitor and Notary Public, has REMOVED his offices to 311, George street, 12 doors north of the Bank of New South Wales.. Sydney, 2nd January, 1865.

From Freeman’s Journal, Sat 06 Jul 1867:

NOTICE.- THE undersigned, RICHARD JOHNSON and JOHN MARTIN, have this day entered into PARTNERSHIP as Attorneys, Solicitors, and Proctors, under the style and firm of JOHNSON and MARTIN, The business will be carried on in the office at present occupied by the said Richard Johnson, No. 311, George-street, Sydney.

Dated this 15th day of April, A.D., 1867.
RICHARD JOHNSON,
JOHN MARTIN.

Four years later he advertised a move of office ; from The Sydney Morning Herald on Sat 08 Jul 1871:

REMOVAL -Mr. RICHARD JOHNSON, Solicitor and Notary, to 69, Elizabeth-street.

However, in 1871 it seems he made a move to country NSW; from the Evening News on Mon 04 Dec 1871:

Mr. Richard Johnson, solicitor, has left Sydney, and intends to practise in Mudgee and Gulgong.

Richard passed away in Wellington, about 100km west of Mudgee, in 1878.

Richard & Jane’s family:

01. Emily Frances (b. 23 Jan 1848 in Camberwell, East Dulwich, London, England, d. 1852)

02. Alice Elizabeth Sarah (b. 1849, d. 08 Feb 1903 in Mosman, Sydney)

03. Herbert Richard (b. 1851, d. 21 Dec 1911 in Manly)

04. Mary Emilie (b. 1853, d. 1925 in New Plymouth, New Zealand)

05. Reginald James Robert (b. 26 Dec 1854, d. 1855)

06. Leslie Charles Brooks (b. 05 Dec 1856, d. 05 Jun 1926)

07. Lucy Frances (b. 1859, d. 03 May 1935 in Longueville, Sydney)

Generation 2

02. Alice Elizabeth Sarah Johnson married John Vials Bayly on 19 Jul 1871 in the Holy Trinity Church, Sydney. John was born in 1838 in England, died in 1920 in Mosman and was a painter who exhibited his paintings with the Art Society of New South Wales during the 1880s.

John & Alice had 7 children:

01. Mary Ethel (b. 1872 in Sydney, d. 09 Jan 1953 in Clifton Gardens, Sydney)

02. Edith Emily (b. 27 Aug 1873 in Bathurst, d. 1958 in Sydney)

03. Lucy (b. 07 May 1875 in Bathurst, d. 1956)

04. Mabel Eveline (b. 27 Mar 1877 in Wellington, d. 1946)

05. Arthur John (b. 29 Jul 1879 in Wellington, d. 26 Mar 1954 in Wellington)

06. Edwin Percival (b. 1882 in Wellington, d. 30 Mar 1961 in Chatswood)

07. Herbert Edmund (b. 30 Apr 1885 in Wellington, d. 05 Mar 1951 in Peak Hill)

03. Herbert Richard Johnson, an accountant with the Bank of New South Wales, married Eliza Jane St Clair on 02 Jul 1872 at Gundagai. Eliza was born on 17 Apr 1853 and died on 17 Aug 1914 in Manly. There were two daughters born in Gundagai:

01. Alice May (b. 1873, d. 1945 in North Sydney)

02. Gertrude (b. 1874 in Gundagai)

03. Elsie Kathleen St Clair (b. 1879 in Maclean)

04. Eleno M St Clair (b. 1890 in Grafton)

05. Leicester G St Clair (b. 1892 in Ashfield)

There were other births listed as unnamed. We know there was also a Reginald St Clair Johnson, eldest son, who married Jessie Rebecca Eccles on 09 Jun 1904 ibn St Matthews Church, Manly (The Daily Telegraph, Fri 15 Jul 1904).

04. Mary Emilie Johnson married Neil Kerr MacDiarmid in 1875 in Mudgee. Neil was born in 1850 in Carcoola, NSW and died in 1899. Neil was a bank manager and a Freemason. They had five children while living in Dubbo: Campbell Larnach in 1876, Archibald in 1878, Alexander Morris in 1880, Elsie Lucy in 1881 and Donald N in 1886.

06. Leslie Charles Brooks Johnson married Mary Louisa Peisley (b. 07 Oct 1850, d. 1930 in Grenfell, NSW) at Paddington in 1881. His life is summarised in his obituary that was published in The Northern Star on Wed 09 Jun 1926 (the death occurred in Sydney on Saturday in his 70th year of Mr Leslie Charles …) which confirms his date of death as 05 Jun 1926. An obituary appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald on Fri 11 Jun 1926:

MR L. C. B. JOHNSON

The death occurred recently of Mr Leslie Charles Brooks Johnson. Mr Johnson, who was 69 years of age, was the youngest son of the late Mr Richard Johnson, solicitor, of Sydney and Mudgee. He was born in Macleay-street, Sydney, and entered the old Australian Joint Stock Bank, under Mr. H. S. Carpenter, at Mudgee, and remained in the service for 62 years. He was at various times manager of the Condobolin, Woodburn, and Summer Hill branches, and for many years was an officer of the head office in Sydney. He lived for a long time at Manly, where he was secretary to the bowling club. He was also a prominent member of the Masonic order, being secretary of both Manly and Springwood lodges.

Mr. Johnson was a great-nephew of the Rev. Richard Johnson, the chaplain of the First Fleet to come to Australia. He was a brother of Mrs. Fielding, wife of the Rev. S. G. Fielding, for many years rector of St. Matthias’ Church, Paddington. His widow is a sister of Mr. A. J. Peisley, S.M., and three daughters also survive him. The funeral took place at Rookwood Cemetery.

07. Lucy Francis Johnson married Sydney Glanville Fielding in 1886 in Dubbo. Sydney was born in 1856 in Parramatta and died in 1930 in Newtown. The collected letters, papers and photographs of the Fielding family can be viewed in the State Library. Quoting from the biography:

Una Lucy Fielding.
See also the Australian Dictionary of Biography and a Wiki entry.

Sydney Glanville Fielding became an Anglican minister in 1882 and was Rector of St Matthias’ Church (Paddington, N.S.W.), 1907-1923. He wrote novels, verse, sermons and tracts on masonry, some of which were published. In 1886 at Dubbo he married Lucy Frances Johnson, youngest daughter of Richard Johnson, a solicitor at Mudgee and Wellington. The Fieldings had six surviving children, five daughters and a son. Una Lucy Fielding [b. 1888] was a distinguished neuroanatomist who went to work in England in 1923; she was Acting Professor of Histology and Neurological Anatomy at the American University of Beirut, 1927-1928. Erica Fielding [b. 1890] was a teacher, family housekeeper and President of the N.S.W. Women’s Hockey Association. Morris Glanville Fielding [b. 1892] was educated at the King’s School, Parramatta, before going onto study at Oxford. He served with the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry as a 2nd Lieutenant during World War I. Ordained deacon in 1919 and priest in 1920, he was Rector of St Aidan’s, (Longueville, N.S.W.), 1924-1954. Daisy Irene Fielding [b. 1894] was a teacher, mainly in England. Enid Frances Fielding [b. 1896] worked in advertising and travelled to London, where she lived after marrying Henry Izod Rogers in 1926. Winifred Ruth Fielding [b. 1900] was a teacher and dietitian. Further biographical information can be obtained in ‘A Johnson Family History’ by Ruth Fielding located at MLMSS 5582/5.