Sir Henry Johnson (13 August 1661''England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530-1980'' – 29 September 1719) of The Gate House, Blackwall,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

; Bradenham,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

; and

Toddington Toddington could be *Toddington, Bedfordshire **Toddington services, M1 motorway *Toddington, Gloucestershire **Toddington railway station Toddington railway station serves the village of Toddington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1984 it h ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

was a British shipbuilder and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for 30 years.

Early life

He was born the eldest son of Sir Henry Johnson, M.P., of Blackwall and

Friston Friston is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is southeast of Saxmundham, its post town, and northwest of Aldeburgh. The River Alde bounds the village on the south. The surrounding ...

Hall, Suffolk by Mary Lord, the daughter and heiress of William Lord of Melton, Kent. Among his siblings were William Johnson and Martha Johnson (who married Hill Mussenden, MP for

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

and brother to

Carteret Leathes Carteret Leathes (July 1698 – 1780), of Oakley House, near Harwich, Essex, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from1727 to 1747. Early life Leathes was born Mussenden, the eldest son of John Mussenden of Hillsborough, Co ...

Career

Described as "the greatest shipbuilder and shipowner of his day, having at one time shares in 38 vessels" as well as owning considerable

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

stock. Later, he had become a bitter opponent of the East India Company and was one of the leading members of the syndicate established in October 1691 to break its monopoly, likely as a result of a dispute with

Sir Josiah Child, 1st Baronet Sir Josiah Child, 1st Baronet, , (c. 1630/31 – 22 June 1699) was an English economist, merchant and politician. He was an economist proponent of mercantilism and governor of the East India Company. He led the company in the Anglo-Mughal Wa ...

. Johnson succeeded his father in 1683 and was knighted in March 1685. He served as one of the two members of Parliament for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

from 1689 to 1719, his younger brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who died in 1718, being the other member for all but a year of that time. Upon his death in 1719, he was succeeded as by

Walter Plumer Walter Plumer (c. 1682–1746), of Cavendish Square and Chediston Hall, Suffolk, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1719 and 1741. Early life Plumer was the eldest surviving son of John Plumer, a wealthy London ...

after a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. He became an Elder Brother of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

in 1700 and Master from 1707 to 1709.

Personal life

On 20 May 1686, Johnson married his first wife Anne Smithson, daughter and heiress of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

haberdasher In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, ...

Hugh Smithson (third son of

Sir Hugh Smithson, 1st Baronet Sir Hugh Smithson, 1st Baronet (–1670) of Stanwick St John, North Yorkshire, was a Royalist supporter during the Civil War for which he was rewarded with a baronetcy by King Charles II on the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. His great-great- ...

). Before her death, they had one daughter: *

Anne Johnson Anne Johnson, a British archaeologist and historical researcher, is a specialist in the archaeology of Roman forts of the early empire in Britain and the German Provinces. She studied archaeology at University College, Cardiff. Her PhD disser ...

(–1754), who married

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

, and had four children. On 11 March 1693, he made an advantageous second marriage to Martha Lovelace, who became ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'' the 8th

Baroness Wentworth Baron Wentworth is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1529 for Thomas Wentworth, who was also ''de jure'' sixth Baron le Despencer of the 1387 creation. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend via femal ...

in 1697, daughter and heiress of

John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace (1641 – 27 September 1693) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons from 1661 to 1670 when he inherited the title Baron Lovelace. He was notorious for his drunken ...

and the former Martha Pye. The younger Martha was heiress to some of her father's property in Berkshire; through her grandmother

Anne Lovelace, 7th Baroness Wentworth Anne Lovelace, 7th Baroness Wentworth ( Wentworth) (29 July 1623 – 7 May 1697) was an English peeress. Early life She was a daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland (1591–1667) and the former Anne Crofts (died 1638). Her elder bro ...

; to Water Eaton in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and

and through her maternal grandfather

Sir Edmund Pye, 1st Baronet Sir Edmund Pye, 1st Baronet ( – 1673) was an English landowner, Scrivener and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1673. Pye was the son of Edmund Pye, of Leckamsteed, Buckinghamshire and of St Martin's Ludgate, London, scriv ...

to the Bradenham estate in Buckinghamshire. Johnson died of

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

at Bath on 29 September 1719 and was buried in the Wentworth vault at Toddington. He left his several estates to his granddaughters.

Descendants

Through his daughter Anne, he was a grandfather of four:

William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), KG, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was a prominent landowner. Origins He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, the only surviving son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Ea ...

; Lady Anne Wentworth (wife of Irish statesman and landowner

William James Conolly William James Conolly (died 2 January 1754) was an Irish landowner and Whig politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons from 1727 to 1754 and in the British House of Commons from 1734 to 1754. Early life Conolly was a nephew of William Co ...

); Lady Lucy Wentworth (wife of Sir George Howard); Lady Henrietta Wentworth (wife of Henry Vernon of Hilton and mother of

Henrietta, Lady Grosvenor Henrietta de Hochepied, Baroness de Hochepied (née Vernon; formerly Baroness Grosvenor) – 1828) was an English aristocrat, socialite, and courtesan. Early life She was one of four daughters born to Lady Henrietta ( née Wentworth) Vernon (t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Henry 1661 births 1719 deaths Place of birth missing People from Aldeburgh English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British businesspeople in shipping British shipbuilders 17th-century English businesspeople 18th-century English businesspeople People from Toddington, Bedfordshire People from Wycombe District