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John JOHNSON (1844–1913)
His wife Mrs Ann JOHNSON, née Dearing (1842–1922)
Their son Edward John JOHNSON (1875–1880)
St Mary Magdalen section: Row 17, Grave D65

John Johnson was born in Wheatley in 1844 and baptised there on 5 May. He was the son of the waggon-master John Johnson senior and Elizabeth Gardiner, who were married at St Michael's Church in Oxford on 27 July 1837. At the time of the 1851 census John (7) was living in Wheatley with his mother Elizabeth (36) and his siblings Henry (13), Elizabeth (11), Eliza (9), Mary (5), Emily (3), and William (1): his mother was described as a pauper and as married, and her husband was probably still a carrier, as this word is scratched out on the census form. John's mother died at the age of 45 and was buried at Wheatley on 17 June 1860. At the time of the 1861 census John (17) was a servant at Cuddesdon Theological College. In 1871 John (27) was the butler of Edward King, the unmarried Vicar of Cuddesdon, and he lived at the vicarage with four other servants.

Ann Dearing was born in Worminghall, Buckinghamshire in 1842 (reg. Thame district second quarter). She was the daughter of Jesse Dearing and his wife Mary, who was born in Garsington. At the time of the 1851 census Ann (8) was at school and living at Worminghall with her father Jesse (41), who was described as a woodman, her mother Mary (34), and her siblings George (6), Harriet (4), and Mary Elizabeth (2). By 1861 Ann (18) was living at Holton Park in Oxfordshire (now Wheatley Park School), where she was a housemaid to the Misses Biscoe. In 1871 Ann (28) was in London, working as a lady's maid at Holcroft Lodge, High Bank, Fulham.

On 16 June 1872 at Worminghall, John Johnson married Ann Dearing, They had four children:

• Harriet Ann Johnson (born in Wheatley in 1872/3 and likely to be the child of that name baptised there on 18 April 1873, the daughter of the servant John Johnson, even though the mother's name is recorded as Harriet)
• Edward John Johnson (born at 7 Beaumont Buildings, Oxford in 1875 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 19 September)
• William Henry Johnson (born at 7 Beaumont Buildings, Oxford in 1877 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 19 August)
• Elizabeth Mary Johnson (born at 44 Paradise Square, Oxford in on 15 December 1882 and baptised at St Ebbe's Church on 25 January 1883)

John & Ann Dearing evidently began their married life in Wheatley, but by 1875 had moved to 7 Beaumont Buildings in St Mary Magdalen parish, Oxford. Their sons Edward and William were born there in 1875 and 1877, and their father was described in the baptismal register as a private servant and a butler.

Their elder son Edward died in 1880:

† Edward John Johnson died at 7 Beaumont Buildings at the age of 5½ on 7 December 1880 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 10 December (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

This child was the first to be buried in this plot, and as his name appears first on the headstone, it must have been set up immediately in 1880.

At the time of the 1881 census John (37) was a butler, living at 7 Beaumont Buildings with his wife Ann (38) and their children Harriet (8) and William (3).

By the beginning of 1883 when his youngest daughter Elizabeth was baptised, he was described as a college servant and was living at 44 Paradise Square in St Ebbe's.

At the time of the 1891 census John (46) was the butler of Harcourt Soden at Rowland Lodge, Epsom, Surrey, and was living there with his wife Ann (46) and their youngest daughter Elizabeth Mary (8). Their daughter Harriet (18) was out to service in London, working as a nurse in the family of a commercial traveller who lived at 11 Lancaster Road, Kensington. Their son William (13) is hard to find in that census.

Their daughter Harriet was married in 1898:

• In the second quarter of 1898 in Paddington, Harriet Annie Johnson married Andrew Nairn, who was born in Glasgow.

By 1901 John (57) was back the Oxford area and was the lodge porter at St Edward's School on the Woodstock Road in Summertown. His wife Ann (58) and their daughter Elizabeth (18) were living with him.

John (67) was still the St Edward's School porter in 1911 and he and his wife were still living at the lodge with their daughter Elizabeth (28), who was working at the school as a general domestic servant.

John Johnson died in 1913:

† John Johnson died at St Edward's Lodge on the Woodstock Road at the age of 68 on 20 January 1913 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 23 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

His effects came to £295 9s. 4d., and his wife Ann was his executor.

Ann's home was at 6 Mayfield Road, Summertown when she died in hospital in 1922:

† Mrs Ann Johnson née Dearing died at the Radcliffe Infirmary at the age of 79 on 16 January 1922 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 20 January (burial recorded in the parish register of St Mary Magdalen Church).

Her effects came to £247 10s. 4d., and her executors were her son William and daughter Elizabeth.

Surviving children of John and Ann Johnson

• Harriet Ann Johnson, Mrs Nairn (born 1872/3) was living at 121 Droop Street, Paddington in 1901 with her husband Andrew, who was a railway clerk. In 1911 Harriet (36) was living at 30 Victoria Road, Kilburn with Andrew (35) and their children Edward Auden Nairn (12) and Agnes Mary Nairn (7). Harriet Nairn died at 30 Victoria Road, Kilburn on 27 June 1936 at the age of 63. Her effects came to £510 6s. 5d., and her executor was her daughter Agnes.
• William Henry Johnson (born 1877) is hard to find in the 1901 census. In 1911 William (32) was a restaurant waiter, lodging over the coffee tavern in Marylebone where he worked. He was described as a hostel manager when he was co-executor of his mother's will in 1922. He is hard to find after that date, as his is an extremely common name.
• Elizabeth Mary Johnson (born 1882) is probably the spinster of that name who was living at 45 Oakthorpe Road, Oxford when she died at St Luke's Home in Linton Road at the age of 79 on 23 August 1962. Her effects came to £4,023 8s. 7d., and her executors were the college accountant Charles Frederick Horn, Mrs Kathleen Stroud, and Miss Eleanor Harris.