Charles Christopher Johnson

Charles Christopher Johnson KLS (29 October 1789 – 30 September 1854) was a British soldier.

Early life

Johnson was born on 29 October 1789.[1] He was the fifth son of eighteen children born to Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet and his wife, Mary Nicoll "Polly" (née Watts) Johnson (1751–1815), who was known as Lady Johnson.[2] His father was a Loyalist leader during the American Revolution who were permanently exiled to Montreal, Canada in 1783.

His paternal grandparents were Colonel Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, and his wife, Catherine Weissenberg, a Palatine German immigrant. His maternal grandparents were Anne (née DeLancey) Watts (a daughter of Stephen Delancey and descendant of the Van Cortlandt family) and the Hon. John Watts, President of the King's Council, of New York and a descendant of the Van Rensselaer family.[3]

Career

Johnson gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 9th Lancers and served as Quartermaster-General in Ireland.[4] He was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Lion and the Sun of Persia.[1]

He was seigneur of Argenteuil, Quebec, property which he inherited from his father.[1]

Personal life

On 8 January 1818, he married Susan Colpoys (d. 1875), daughter of Vice Admiral Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys of Northbrook House in Hampshire. Together, they were the parents of six children:[5]

• William Johnson (b. 1821), who died without issue.[1]
• John Ormsby Johnson (1822–1881), a Vice-Admiral who married Edith Renira Twyford, daughter of Rev. Charles Edward Twyford, in 1852.[6]
• Charles Turquand Johnson (1825–1851), who studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge for five years.[7]
• Maria Bowes Johnson (c. 1830–1871), who married Rev. William Bell Christian of Ewanrigg Hall, son of John Christian, a Deemster of the Isle of Man.
• Edward Colpoys Johnson (1835–1900), who married Barbara Williamson, daughter of Rev. James Williamson, in 1863. After her death, he married Ada Olivia Pinto, daughter of Edward Pinto, in 1874.
• Mary Anne Susan Johnson (c. 1838–1923), who married Henry Fraser Curwen of Workington Hall,[8] the High Sheriff of Cumberland.[2][9]

Johnson died on 30 September 1854 and his widow died on 23 February 1875.[1]

Descendants

Through his son John, he was the grandfather of Frederick Colpoys Ormsby Johnson (1858–1932) and Captain Robert Warren Johnson (1868–1914), who married Grace Isobel Paley (fourth daughter of Algernon Herbert Paley) father of Lt. Col. Sir John Paley Johnson, 6th Baronet (1907–1975), who inherited Charles' father's baronetcy from the descendants of his elder brother, John Johnson, including Sir William Johnson, 4th Baronet.[10]

References

1. Johnson, William; Sullivan, James; Flick, Alexander Clarence; Lauber, Almon W.; Hamilton, Milton Wheaton; Corey, Albert Bickmore (1965). The Papers of Sir William Johnson. Albany: University of the State of New York at Albany. pp. xliii–xliiii. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
2. De Peyster, John Watts (1813). Miscellanies: By An Officer. A.E. Chasmer & Co. p. 136. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
3. Debrett, John (1839). The Baronetage of England; With Alphabetical Lists of Such Baronetcies as Have Merged In The Peerage, Or Have Become Extinct. And Also of The Existing Baronets of Nova Scotia and Ireland. Seventh Edition: Including The New Baronets Created at Her Majesty's Coronation in 1839, With The Arms Complete, From Drawings by Harvey. London: J. G. & F. Rivington. p. 176. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
4. Office, Great Britain War (1842). A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines. p. 31. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
5. Browning, Charles Henry (1883). Americans of Royal Descent. Philadelphia: Porter & Costes. p. 16. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
6. Johnson, Sir William (1921). The Papers of Sir William Johnson. University of the State of New York. p. 44. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
7. Venn, Sc.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., John (1898). Biolgraphical History of Gonville and Caius College 1349-1897, Vol. II. Cambridge University Press Archive. p. 267. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
8. Walford, Edward (1893). The County Families of the United Kingdom Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 258. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
9. American Vital Records from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1868. Genealogical Publishing Com. 1987. p. 155. ISBN 9780806311777. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
10. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Kelly's Directories. 2000. p. 573. ISBN 9780333545775. Retrieved 7 August 2019.