Captain William Johnson (19 September 1784 – 28 March 1851) was born in

Chirnside Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Duns. Church The parish church at Chirnside dates from the 12th century. It was substantially rebuilt in 1878 and extensively restored and a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and joined the Royal Navy as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on HMS ''Blake'' and retired with the title of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. When he entered the Navy in 1801 he dropped the "t" and "e" from his last name which was previously Johnstone. Johnson saw service in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and retired from the RN.

Move to Canada

Johnson moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1819 and settled and founded the town of

Pefferlaw Pefferlaw is a community within the Town of Georgina, located 3 kilometres south of the southeastern shores of Lake Simcoe. The Pefferlaw River runs south of the community's commercial district. Pefferlaw is passed on the north by Highway 48 and ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Johnson also lived in

Georgina, Ontario Georgina (Canada 2016 Census population 45,418) is a town in south-central Ontario, and the northernmost municipality in the Regional Municipality of York. The town is bounded to the north by Lake Simcoe. Although incorporated as a town, it operate ...

. After settling in then

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

, Johnson established saw, wool and grist mills in the area. With his brother Robert, Johnson established a general store in Pefferlaw in 1833 and later by Robert and his family until 1864.

Death and legacy

Johnson died on 28 March 1851 and survived by his brother and son George Johnson. His brother Robert died in 1870 and buried at Johnston Cemetery.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, William 1784 births 1851 deaths Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Royal Navy officers Immigrants to Upper Canada People from Georgina, Ontario