Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev.

Richard Johnson | 1

Drawing Back the Curtain

Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson
Craig Schwarze

Recent years have seen fresh interest in the life of the Rev. Richard Johnson, Australia’s first

Christian clergyman.1 These accounts have, naturally enough, focused on the years that Johnson

spent as Chaplain to the colony of New South Wales, although some recent work has been done

on his later years as well.2 Yet little has been written about Johnson’s life prior to his

appointment to the colony, and almost nothing about his childhood and genealogy.

Macintosh, whose superlative 1978 book remains the standard work on Johnson, correctly

identifies the following information – Richard Johnson, son of John, born in Welton, Yorkshire

and baptised March 15th, 1755. And that’s all. It’s as if a heavy curtain has been pulled over

Johnson’s early life, permitting us only the barest glimpses of this important period. Macintosh

mournfully pronounces that “no other information” is available, and that has been the final word

on this matter for over thirty five years.

But no longer. The purpose of this paper is to finally draw back the curtain and reveal the early

life and origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson.

Part 1 - The Johnson Genealogy

Richard Johnson’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Barker, who was baptised on October

27th, 1700 in the town of Market Weighton in Yorkshire, England. 3 Her younger brother,

William, described himself as a yeoman, so it seems likely her father was also a member of that

class.4 As an adult William lived in Middleton, about five miles north and east of his birthplace.5
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 2

There is no evidence that Elizabeth relocated before marriage, so she was most likely residing in

Market Weighton when she met Cary Gill, Richard’s maternal grandfather, who was born in

1694 in close-by Nunburnholme.6 They married while Elizabeth was in her early twenties, and

by 1724 they had moved about 10 miles south to Welton, a small Yorkshire village on the north

banks of the River Humber.7 In 1729, Cary rented a farm at Welton for £22 per year – it was

probably about 40 acres.8 Setting up a farm of this size required a degree of capital, suggesting

that Cary was not a pauper.

By 1738, Cary Gill had been appointed constable of the parish. This was an unpaid position,

allotted by rotation, and was often considered a burden. Nevertheless, Cary etched his place in

history when he arrested one of England’s most notorious criminals, Dick Turpin, and testified at

the trial that saw him hanged. The story is worth telling at length, not least because Cary Gill’s

role is often overlooked.9

By the mid-1730s, Dick Turpin was perhaps the most infamous man in the kingdom. Wanted for

murder and highway robbery, the papers were full of his exploits. About 1736 he moved to

Yorkshire, took the name John Palmer, and settled in Welton. There he lived the life of a

gentleman, though the source of his income was not apparent to his neighbours. And so Turpin

found peace and security, though he occasionally disappeared south for various illegal doings.

On one such occasion he stole three horses and returned with them to Welton, secure in the

knowledge that the owner was 50 miles away.10

Turpin then made a fatal mistake. In a fit of temper, he shot another man’s fowl. The victim

complained to the constable (Cary Gill), and so Gill arrested “John Palmer” and took him to the

nearby town of Beverley for judgment. Fortune began turning against the disguised highwayman.
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 3

The owner of the stolen horses finally made his way to Yorkshire, and Turpin found himself

charged with the much more serious offence of horse-stealing. Through his own bumbling, his

true identity was revealed, and at the subsequent trial he badly mishandled his own defence. He

was condemned and executed, in no small part due to Cary Gill’s evidence. And that is how

Richard Johnson’s grandfather caught and condemned the most famous highwayman in English

history.11

Cary and Elizabeth had a son, Thomas, in 172412 and then a daughter, Mary Gill, who was

baptised on October 27th, 1727, and who would become Richard’s mother.13 Richard would call

Mary’s brother “Uncle Gill”, and he seems to have had a special affection for his only maternal

uncle. It probably did not hurt that Thomas stood to inherit the estate of his own childless

uncle!14

Richard Johnson’s paternal grandmother was Ann Dove, who was most likely born in Hull

around 1697.15 Ann married Marmaduke Johnson in Welton in 1723.16 The origins of

Marmaduke are uncertain. We do know that he preferred to be called “Duke”, 17 and that he was a

tailor by trade.18 Duke Johnson was either a successful tradesman or had some other source of

wealth, for he began acquiring property in the area.19 He and Ann eventually moved into Melton

House, one of the finer homes in the district, which lay on the side of a hill and commanded a

grand view of the river.20

Duke and Ann had several children. John Johnson was baptised on August 7 th, 1726 – he would

become Richard’s father.21 John was followed by Duke junior in 1728 and Elizabeth in 1735. 22

Tragedy then struck the family when Duke died in 1737. 23 John was just 11 years old, and his

father’s major heir. Ann was pregnant at the time, and William Johnson was born in the
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 4

following months. He was not a strong baby and died in 1738 – another blow for poor Ann. 24 She

found some peace, perhaps, in 1743 when she re-married, to Peter Ruston of nearby Ferriby.25

As so it was that John Johnson and Mary Gill grew up together in Welton, knowing each other

their whole lives. They married on April 30th, 1747, when John was about 20 years old, and Mary

just 19.26 It was a young marriage, for it was common then to postpone matrimony until the man

had established himself financially. This seems to confirm the idea that Duke left his son a

significant estate.27

It was a fruitful marriage with the first child, Mary, arriving in 1748. She was followed by

Thomas in 1750, John in 1751 and William around 1753. 28 Our subject, Richard Johnson, was

then born, and baptised on March 15th, 1755.29 He had two younger brothers; Robert, who was

baptised in 1757, and Joseph in 1760.30 It is not certain how many of the children survived, given

the high infant mortality of the era. Evidence suggests that Thomas, at least, did not outlive

childhood.31

Part 2 - Johnson’s Village

Having established Richard Johnson’s genealogy, we will now examine the place where he spent

his childhood. Talk of an 18th century Yorkshire village conjures images of mud and toil and

grinding poverty. Welton had a good dose of those things, no doubt, yet it was home to a

diversity of people, who cut right across the social spectrum.

Johnson’s home village of Welton lay in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the muddy northern

banks of the slow moving Humber, about 10 miles west of Kingston-Upon-Hull. It’s clichéd to

describe a village as picturesque, but in the case of Welton it appears to be true, with 19 th century

guides commenting on how attractive the village and its surrounds were.32
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 5

An informal census in 1780 showed the population of the village at 367 people in 91 families.

Extrapolating back, we can assume the population was about 300 when Richard was born, across

perhaps 80 families.33 Roads were poor at the time and transportation expensive. Each village

was its own little microcosm, with the skills to supply its own needs. A directory created within

Richard’s lifetime showed Welton was home to teachers, bakers, bricklayers, carpenters, grocers,

surgeons, shoemakers, a butcher, a blacksmith, a cabinet-maker and a publican. Doubtless many

or most of these trades were present when Richard was growing up. His own grandfather had

been a tailor, after all.34

The village center, such as it was, lay about a mile north of the river, at the intersection of Hull

Road and Stone Peak Road. The church, St Helens, stood on one corner of the intersection, and it

was thought to date back to Norman times. On the other side was the vicarage, and behind the

church was the mill, owned by the Bishop of Durham. 35 A hundred or so yards to the south and

east lay the Green Dragon Inn, where Dick Turpin was said to have drunk. Clustered around

these important buildings were the cottages of the labourers and tradesmen of the village.36

Farming was, of course, the main business in Welton. The village had around 1700 acres under

cultivation at this time, and at least two-thirds of the populace owned a farm of some size. 37 A

crop rotation system was then common, and so the land was a shimmering patchwork of greens

and golds, as farmers planted corn, oats, turnips, barley and clover by turns.38

This era was actually a time of great agricultural change, with Enclosure Acts transforming the

countryside and the economy. Enclosure affected the Johnson family directly, so it is worth a

digression. Historically, farming was carried out in an open field system, with few or no fences,

and land divided into strips of perhaps one fifth of an acre each. A farmer held the right to
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 6

cultivate a number of these strips. There was also typically a large common upon which livestock

could graze.39

There were a number of problems with this system. There was no guarantee that a farmers strips

were near each other, let alone adjacent, which brought inefficiencies. Another issue was that a

farmer was obliged, to a certain degree, to follow the practices of the community, curbing

innovation and change. Also, the commons was usually over-grazed and the intermingling of all

the village animals meant disease was rife. Finally, the title system was complicated and

inconsistent.40

Enclosure aimed to resolve these problems. Enclosure bills were, in most cases, privately

sponsored by the local landholders. They consolidated a landholders strips into larger farms, and

also split the commons and waste areas amongst those with “common rights”. The landholder

was then given absolute ownership over the new plots, and was obliged to fence (enclose) them.

Enclosure led to a great economic boom. The process itself generated employment as lands were

fenced, roads created and contracts drawn up. And the new farms were much more valuable and

productive – land value doubled and outputs rose by as much as half, driven by efficiencies and

innovations. On the negative side, it is often argued that non-landholding cottagers were not

adequately compensated for loss of the commons, and were effectively forced off the land. 41

Other considerations aside, enclosure was a great boon to the historian, for the enclosure awards,

maps and keys provide exquisite detail about the affected villages.

Let us return to Welton. The village saw two major enclosure awards passed, one in 1751 and the

other in 1773. These not only defined field boundaries, they also ordered the creation of roads,

bridges, sewers, banks, ditches, drains, stone pits and gravel pits. 42 Richard Johnson grew up
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 7

watching the land being cut apart and then stitched back together again. It was a miniature

portrait of the great metamorphosis affecting every part of the country in the late 18 th century, the

transformation of the medieval into the modern.

Richard’s father, John Johnson, was a beneficiary of this activity; after the 1773 enclosure he

owned around 110 acres.43 The biggest plot was 55 acres in the north-eastern corner of Welton,

facing Strowsdale Road. Various smaller plots lay scattered about the village, and the family also

had a homestead near St Helens.44

John Johnson held additional land in the nearby hamlet of Melton, 45 though detailed records have

not yet been examined. If we assume his Melton holdings were proportional to those at Welton, 46

it’s possible that he possessed over 200 acres of land. So, where did this place the Johnson

family in Welton’s class system?

Part 3 - Johnson’s Social Status

Despite its small size, Welton contained a good cross-section of the English social strata. There

were the poor of course, always present. Under the Poor Laws, the local parish was responsible

for their relief. Poor rates were half a penny per pound on the rateable value of the land, paid

monthly.47 As an example, John Johnson was assessed for a little over £13 in 1792.48 These

moneys were then distributed by appointed parish officers, the beneficiaries being those earning

less than £10/year.

This was the minimum required by law, but the inhabitants of Welton put in place additional

programs. The enclosure acts allotted land for poor relief, and wealthy benefactors did likewise

of their own volition. For example, in 1694 one Robert Mason set aside land to enable loaves of
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 8

white bread to be distributed to the needy every Sunday. Astonishingly, this charity appears to

have run continuously for over a century, and there were others like it.49

A step above the poor were country labourers, farmhands typically, who might be struggling to

support a family on about £20/year. Earning considerably more, sometimes up to £70/year, were

the skilled tradesmen who made their home in Welton. Together, these groups may have

accounted for about half the village population.50

The rest of the village were farming their own land, and here again there was a hierarchy. At the

bottom was the husbandman, who owned and farmed his own small plot. A step above him was

the yeoman, who was part of the landowning middle class. The yeoman might possess

considerable land and employ labourers and other servants. At the top were the gentlemen, or

gentry. These men were the major landholders in a district, and controlled considerable assets

and income. One survey conducted at this time suggested a gentleman would enjoy an income of

at least £200/year.51

So where did the Johnson family fit into the social hierarchy? We can answer this question with

precision. The 1773 Welton Enclosure Act lists the major landholders in the preface, including

“John Johnson, Gentleman”. 52

This ranking is confirmed by an early 19 th century directory

showing John’s son and grandson to be “Gentry”. 53

The Johnson family were near the peak of their society. John Johnson’s ancestors were yeomen

and tradesmen, and now he was a gentleman. Upward mobility and social aspiration were a

feature of 18th century England, and the Johnson family are a good example. The practical

consequence was that Richard Johnson grew up in a house of plenty rather than penury. He

always had enough to eat, he lived in a good house, and he likely had servants too.
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 9

We should round out this picture of the Welton social structure. The traditional leaders of a

village were the vicar and the squire, in this case the Rev. Peter Simon and James Shaw esq.

Both controlled substantial resources. However, a new class of men, affluent merchants, began to

create estates and build mansions in the village. Wealthiest of these was Thomas Williamson, an

iron merchant whose business was in Hull. Williamson owned 770 acres – around half of the

total farmland in Welton. He also purchased Welton House, the modest manor that had been

home to the squire. Williamson demolished it and built a new home of almost Pemberley-esque

proportions.54 There were a number of other grand homes in the village, including Welton

Grange and Welton Hall, and more were built over the coming years, often by wealthy

merchants. This displacement of “old money” by “new money” was a feature of the times.

Richard Johnson, son of a local gentleman, would have been familiar with these places and

people. We can safely assume that he dined at Welton House and Welton Grange in his youth.

He would have comfortably mixed with the Welton elite, for he was one of their number.

It would be wrong, though, to overstate the case. Young Richard led no life of ease – he grew up

toiling on the family farm. He later showed a remarkable work ethic, which he must surely have

learned in his youth. But nor did he just work. John Johnson’s wealth enabled him to give his son

a priceless gift – a good education. It was this that set the foundation for Richard’s future career.

It is time to lower the curtain on Richard Johnson once more; the first act of his life is complete.

We’ve learned much along the way, and there have been some surprises. The next act concerns

the young man’s education and, once more, it is a story that has not yet been fully told. We trust

that another thirty five years need not pass before the curtain is raised again.
 Drawing Back the Curtain: Revealing the Origins of the Rev. Richard Johnson | 10

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the research performed by Diana Daunt at the East Riding Archives.

She has greatly enriched our knowledge of Richard Johnson. I would also like to acknowledge

the research and assistance of Amelia Schwarze, and the encouragement of Peter Bolt, Meredith

Lake and Neil Macintosh.

1
For example, see M. Lake (2008), ‘Salvation and Conciliation: First Missionary Encounters at Sydney Cove’ in

Evangelists of Empire?: Missionaries in Colonial History, ed. Amanda Barry, Joanna Cruickshank, Andrew Brown-May

and Patricia Grimshaw [online] Melbourne: University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre (2008); P. G. Bolt

(2009), The Case of the Disappearing Chaplain: Reverend Richard Johnson's "Missing Years", Journal of the Royal

Australian Historical Society 95.2 (2009), 176-195; M. Gladwin, "Flogging Parsons? Australian Anglican Clergymen, the

Magistracy, and Convicts, 1788–1850." Journal of Religious History 36.3 (2012): 386-403. J. Moore, Reverend Richard

Johnson, 1755-1827: Chaplain To The Colony Of New South Wales, 1788-1800, Brisbane: John Moore, (2006).

2
Bolt, op. cit.

3
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N233-GBD),

Elizabeth Barker, 27 Oct 1700.

4
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/NDD6-JWP), William Barker, 31 Jul 1704; Family History Library (FHL) film 99713,

“Prerogative & Exchequer Court of York Wills”, Barker, Willm, March 1750, vol.93, f.242.

5
ibid.

6
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/NDDX-WYR), Cary Gill, 1694.

7
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/JQXZ-C7D), Thomas Gill, 14 Feb 1724.

8
East Riding Archives and Local Studies (ERALS), DDSA/939. Farm size calculated assuming average rent of about 10

shillings/acre - see A. Young (1771). A six months tour through the North of England. 1771. London: W. Strahan, p.13.

9
T. Truepenny (1739). “The Genuine Trial of that Notorious Highwayman, Richard Turpin (pts. 1-4)”. The Universal Spy;

or, London Weekly Magazine, April 27 – May 18.

10
ibid.

11
ibid.

12
FamilySearch, Thomas Gill, loc cit.

13
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/N15S-WGQ), Mary Gill, 29 Oct 1727.

14
FHL, loc. cit.

15
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/JD3S-JXM), Ann Dove.
16
FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/NLX9-6Z9), Marmaduke Johnson and Ann Dove, 21 Nov 1723.

17
ERALS PE/106/1, Baptisms, 1st January 1735.

18
ERALS DDHB/28/103.

19
ibid.

20
ERALS op. cit., Burials, 19th February 1737. See also J. Rutland (1813), Journal of a tour to the northern parts of Great

Britain. London: Printed for J. Triphook, p. 54.

21
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 7th August 1726.

22
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 9th March 1728; 1st January 1735. There may have been a stillborn child between Marmaduke

and Elizabeth.

23
ERALS op. cit., Burials, 19th February 1737.

24
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 25th June 1738; Burials, 15th August, 1738.

25
ERALS op. cit., Marriages, 3rd May 1743.

26
ERALS op. cit., Marriages, 30th April, 1747.

27
ERALS PE106/25, “A Schedule of Bishops Rent”, Welton Statistics, John Johnson.

28
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 14th August, 1748; 20th May, 1750; FamilySearch (MM9.1.1/J718-C32), 27th December, 1751;

(MM9.1.1/J718-HY2), 13th March, 1753.

29
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 15th March, 1755.

30
ERALS op. cit., Baptisms, 17th January, 1757; 4th February, 1760.

31
I deduce this from the fact that the family estate appears to have passed to John. See E. Baines (1823), History, Directory

& Gazetteer, of the County of York v2. Leeds: Edward Baines, p. 398.

32
For example – T. Moule (1837). "Yorkshire: 5. Howdenshire Wapentake: Welton". The English counties delineated v2.

London: George Virtue. p. 422.

33
T. Thompson (1870), Researches into the history of Welton and its Neighbourhood. Kingston-upon-Hull: Leng & Co., p.

69-70. J. Fletcher (1918). The making of modern Yorkshire, 1750-1914, London: Allen & Unwin, p. 163.
34
Baines, loc. cit.

35
Thompson, op. cit. p. 64.

36
ERALS IA/177, Welton Enclosure Map and Award.

37
Thompson, op. cit. p. 64-70.

38
Fletcher, op. cit.

39
P. Langford (1992). A polite and commercial people: England 1727-1783. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 435-437.

R. Porter (1990). English society in the Eighteenth Century. London: Penguin Books, p. 208-213.

40
ibid.

41
ibid.

42
Thompson, op. cit., p. 54-60.

43
ERALS PE106/25, “A Schedule of Bishops Rent”, Welton Statistics, John Johnson.

44
ERALS IA/177, Welton Enclosure Map and Award.

45
ERALS PE106/25, “The Manor of the Vicar of Welton”, op.cit.

46
Not unreasonable given that his father, Duke Johnson, had his home there.

47
Thompson, op. cit., p. 76.

48
ERALS PE106/25, “An Assessment for Welton Poor”, Welton Statistics, John Johnson.

49
J. Hall (1892). A History of South Cave and of other parishes in the East Riding, etc. Hull: E. Ombler, p. 229.

50
J. Massie (1961). Calculations of the present taxes yearly paid by a family of each rank, degree, or class. London: Payne

etc., no. 23-30. Baines, loc. cit.

51
Massie, op. cit., no. 12.

52
An Act for Dividing and Inclosing the Common Fields, Common Pastures, Common Meadows, Common Pieces,

Common Grounds, and Waste Grounds in the Manor. United States: Gale Ecco, p. 2.

53
Baines, loc. cit.

54
T. Thompson (1870), op. cit., p. 51, 61, 76.