William Johnstone

[Gillyg]

Could anyone help with a bit of a brick wall I have here please.  I have been trying to find a record of birth or baptism for William Johnstone - with or without the 'e' - born in Deptford in 1816.   I've tried the usual sites without any success, and naturally, would like to know who his parents were to get back further.

[ingham1969]

Hello is this William Johnstone who had children at Gravesend Kent and ended up in Grimsby?

[Gillyg]

Hi Ingham,
Yes, it is the very same William Johnston.  I managed to find his christening from somewhere - William Alexander Johnstone, christened St.Nicholas, Deptford, 7 July 1816, parents Alexander and Ann Johnston.
He married Sarah Blackman on 16 October 1837 at St.Botolphs, Northfleet, Kent.
Their daughter, Rosina Elizabeth, married George William Webster, and these were my great-grandparents.

As you say, William and Sarah went up to Grimsby - he was a fisherman - and stayed there for some considerable time.

Are we connected?

[ingham1969]

Yes we have a connection.
Well you have found William's Bapt and marriage which I had not.
My connection is Alexander Johnstone son of Robert George and Alice Johnstone.
Robert George being William's son.
That's great finding out from whom Alexander's name came.

I have the family in the 1851 to 1901 census but couldn't find them in the 1841, have you had luck with that too?

I don't have my data in front of me but Alexander (who was my dads grandfather) was born 23 Dec 1889 from memory.

His father Robert seems to be the only child of William and Sarah to be born in Grimsby even thoe they had a younger son  born Gravesend.

Was Rosina their only daughter?
The enters for William's Bapt and Marriage were they both Johnstone without the e?

Thanks for the new data

[Gillyg]

Hi Shawn,
Fascinating!  I couldn't find them in the 1841 Census either.  I'll email you what I have written out - I've linked it in with the Webster family which you can ignore - and you will see that there were other daughters.  I hadn't explored the siblings' marriages.
Re the spelling of Johnstone, I shall have to go back to Cityark to check, though even there, as with the Censuses, the spelling varies.

[Eyesee]

Think this might be them in 1841

Gravesend
Wm JOHNSON, 35, Fisherman, yes - could be 25.
Sarah JOHNSON, 20, yes
Sarah JOHNSON, 4, yes
John JAMES, 30, Independent, Ireland
Wm BROWN, 35, Grocer, ditto
HO107; Piece 458; Book: 9; Civil Parish: Gravesend; County: Kent; Enumeration District: 4; Folio: 5; Page: 5

Ian C

[Gillyg]

Thanks so much Ian - that's definitely them!  The occupation of Fisherman and the age of Sarah, the child, are spot on,
I was looking at 'Johnson' last night, and did find another William in Gravesend, but things didn't gel.

[Gillyg]

Also in the 1841 Census are William's parents and siblings, living in Deptford.
Grove Lane, ecc.St.Paul, Deptford, Greenwich, Kent

Alexander Johnston, 55, Labourer, b.Scotland
Ann Johnston, 55, b.Kent
Elizabeth, 20, b.Kent
Georgiana, 15, b.Kent
Susannah, 13, b.Kent
Amelia, 11, b.Kent.

That makes Alexander b. around 1786, and it looks as if William was the only son.
Finally discovered some Scottish blood in the family history!

[Eyesee]

Looks like Susannah married William John HUDSON Sep qtr 1847, Greenwich

In 1851 they are in Hendon - HO107/1700/498/29

Then again she might have married James HOGBEN - 1851 HO107/1584/728/30 - with widowed mother Ann JOHNSTON and sister Amelia JOHNSTON. There is a death for an Alexander Dec qtr 1842 in Greenwich.

Ian C