John Johnson (15 November 1769 – 29 September 1833) was a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
clergyman, poet, and editor, a cousin and friend of
William Cowper
William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...
, who lived with Johnson in his declining years.
Life
![Harriett Hesketh born Cowper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Harriett_Hesketh_born_Cowper.jpg)
Born at
Ludham
Ludham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, in the Norfolk Broads, at the end of a dyke leading to Womack Water and flowing into the River Thurne. It lies to the East of Ludham Bridge, which is on the River Ant.
It cov ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, Johnson was the son of John Johnson (born 1717), "a well-to-do gentleman", by his marriage to Catherine Dunne, whose father Roger Dunne, of
Catfield, was the brother of William Cowper's mother. Johnson's mother was deeply disappointed to find herself marrying a prosperous older man as his third wife, having been in love with a young but poor Dunne cousin. Johnson was his father's only son. He was first educated at
Holt Grammar School, then was tutored by a clergyman called Reeve at
Bungay and another called Buck near
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...
.
[ In 1788 he matriculated at ]Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, having gained a scholarship the year before.["Johnson, John", in ]John Archibald Venn
John Archibald Venn (10 November 1883 – 15 March 1958) was a British economist. He was President of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1932 until his death, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University 1941–1943, university archivist, and a ...
, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses
''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...
'' Part II. 1752–1900, Vol. III (1947), p. 580
In 1789 Johnson wrote a poem called ''Audley End'' and first visited Cowper at , where he became a frequent visitor.[Catharine Bodham Johnson, Introduction to ''Letters of Lady Hesketh to the Rev. John Johnson LL.D.'' (1901), pp. 5–7] He took the degree of Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
in 1794 and was advanced to Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
in 1803.[
Johnson was ordained a ]deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
and priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
in 1793 and after leaving Cambridge became a curate at Dereham
Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...
, living there with his sister Catharine (1767–1820). In the same year he was appointed as Chaplain to the Earl of Peterborough
Earl of Peterborough was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for John Mordaunt, 5th Baron Mordaunt (see Baron Mordaunt for earlier history of the family). He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry, the second Earl. He was ...
and Vicar of Hempnall.[ However, when Cowper's close friend Mary Unwin became paralysed, needing constant attention, Johnson moved her and Cowper to Norfolk and gave up his parish duties. Mrs Unwin died in December 1796, and Cowper became depressed and ill, remaining with the Johnsons until he died on 25 April 1800.][ After Cowper's death, Johnson had a long correspondence with another cousin of Cowper's, Harriett Hesketh, which was published in 1901.][
In 1800, Johnson was appointed as Rector of ]Yaxham
Yaxham is a village and civil parish in centre of the English county of Norfolk. The parish includes the village of Yaxham, together with the neighbouring community of Clint Green. Together, they lay some south of Dereham and west of Norwich.
...
and Welborne, benefices he held until his death.[
In 1808 Johnson married Maria Dorothea Livius, a daughter of George Livius, of ]Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, who had been Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-General ...
's Chief of Commissariat in British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.[Stephen Powys Marks]
"Powys Family Connections in East Anglia"
in ''The Powys Journal'' Vol. 13 (Powys Society, 2003), pp. 9-39 online at jstor.org They had two daughters, Mary Theodora (born 1810) and Catharine Anne (born 1812), and three sons, William Cowper Johnson (born 1813), who became Rector of Yaxham in 1843, John Barham Johnson (born 1818), who became Rector of Welborne in 1845, and Henry Robert Vaughan Johnson (born 1820), who became a barrister.[ Their third son, H. R. V. Johnson, was Principal Secretary to Lord Chancellor Campbell, married his daughter Cecilia, and was appointed as one of the six Conveyancing Counsel in the Chancery Division of the High Court.]["Johnson, Henry Robert Vaughan" in Venn, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' Part II, vol. III (1947), p. 579]
After the death of William Hayley
William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend William Cowper.
Biography
Born at Chichester, he was sent to Eton in 1757, and to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1762; his conne ...
in 1820, Johnson edited his unpublished papers, which in 1823 appeared in two volumes as ''The Memoirs of the Life and Writings of William Hayley Esq.''
Notable descendants
Johnson's granddaughter Mary Cowper Johnson married the Rev. C. F. Powys and was the mother of the philosopher John Cowper Powys
John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
(1872–1963), the writers Theodore Francis Powys
Theodore Francis Powys (20 December 1875 – 27 November 1953) – published as T. F. Powys – was a British novelist and short-story writer."Powys, Theodore Francis" in Christine L. Krueger, ''Encyclopedia of British Writers, 19th and 20th Ce ...
(1875–1953), Llewelyn Powys (1884–1939), and Philippa Powys
Catharine Edith Philippa Powys (; 8 May 1886 – 11 January 1963) was a British novelist and poet, and a member of one of the most distinguished families in modern literature.
Family
She was born at Montacute in Somerset, where her father Rever ...
(1886–1963), and the architect Albert Powys
Albert Reginald Powys CBE (1881–1936) was an architect and Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings for some 25 years in the early 20th century.
Life
Powys was born into a large and notable literary family in 1881. Sib ...
(1881–1936).[
]
Publications
*John Johnson, LL.D., ''Sketch of the Life of Cowper'' (1815)[
*John Johnson, LL.D., ed., ''The Memoirs of the Life and Writings of William Hayley Esq. the Friend and Biographer of Cowper, Written by Himself, With Extracts from His Private Correspondence and Unpublished Poetry'' (Henry Colburn and Company and Simpkin and Marshall, 2 volumes, 1823)][
*''Letters of Lady Hesketh to the Rev. John Johnson LL.D. concerning their Kinsman William Cowper the Poet'' (London: Jarrold and Sons, 1901)
]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John
1769 births
1833 deaths
18th-century English poets
19th-century English poets
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
People educated at Gresham's School
English male non-fiction writers
People from Ludham