Richard JOHNSON

JOHNSON, RICHARD (b. Welton, Yorkshire, England, bapt. 15 March 1755; d. London, England, 13 March 1827). Church of England minister, chaplain of the First Fleet, and first chaplain of the colony of NSW.

Johnson was educated at Hull Grammar School, where he may have been a contemporary of Wilberforce, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, BA 1784. He was made deacon 1783, and priest 1784 and served two curacies, the second as assistant to the Rev Henry Foster, a prominent London evangelical. Firmly committed to the evangelical cause, he was appointed through the influence of Wilberforce and the Rev John Newton, chaplain to the convict fleet which was being prepared to begin the new penal colony planned for Botany Bay. This chaplaincy had been created by Pitt's government at Wilberforce's urging. Shortly before sailing in May 1787, Johnson married Mary Burton (q.v. Mary Johnson) who accompanied him through all his subsequent adventures.

Johnson ministered in the colony as best he could to the needs of the officers, marines and convicts. He preached his first sermon (Ps 116:12) on 3 Feb 1788. Forced to rely on his own efforts, he erected a frontier style building for worship, but it was destroyed by fire, probably the work of arsonists. As a government official he was answerable to the governor; he had no churchwardens, nor any ecclesiastical guidance, since the abp of Canterbury was his nominal ordinary, some two years away by mail!

He served as the only chaplain to the colony until the arrival of Samuel Marsden (q.v.) in March 1794. Johnson became involved in a bitter controversy with Francis Grose, administrator of the colony 1792-95. Johnson's position improved considerably under Governors Hunter and King, but in 1800 he resigned his position and returned to England worn out by the exertions, privations and stresses of his time in NSW. On his return to England he went through a frustrating period of trying to secure a satisfactory appointment, but in 1810 he was appointed rector of the historic St Antholin's Church in London, where he served faithfully for the rest of his life.

It is possible that Johnson's evangelical outlook can be traced to his time at Hull Grammar School, where he may have come under the influence of Joseph and Isaac Milner, both staunch evangelicals. It is more certain that Johnson imbibed evangelical principles while a student at Cambridge, where the prominent evangelical scientist William Farish (who was related by marriage to Wilberforce) was his tutor. It is also highly likely that Johnson was among the many undergraduates who packed St Edward's church at this time to hear the dynamic young preacher, Charles Simeon. By the time he was ordained Johnson was in touch with a number of the circle of London evangelicals including Newton, Foster and Richard Cecil, members of the Eclectic Society, and later also with Wilberforce and his cousin Henry Thornton. It was through these contacts that he was offered the appointment to NSW, and he kept in touch with some of these during his time overseas.

Johnson seems to have been a somewhat prosaic and unimaginative person; he brought qualities of faithfulness and perseverance, rather than outstanding gifts, to a ministry for which there was virtually no precedent and which involved much inherent frustration and difficulty. With the single exception of Grose, those who came to know Johnson seem to have been well disposed toward him, and in the case of many of the convicts, developed a genuine respect and admiration for him. He expressed in many ways a genuine pastoral concern for his 'congregation', and his reputation among the convicts as both a Christian and as a pastor was very high. He was a man of deep and genuine piety and commitment to the gospel, and his writings display a consistent spirit of humility, compassion and restraint.

While Johnson tends to have been overshadowed by the more dynamic and longer serving Marsden, his achievements are not without significance. Not only was he faithful in his liturgical and pastoral ministrations in the face of considerable difficulties, but he also concerned himself with the education of the children of the colony, and with the welfare and evangelisation of the Aborigines. He also took up land and farmed with notable success during his time at Port Jackson; the modern Sydney suburb of Canterbury takes its name from Johnson's farm which he called 'Canterbury Vale'. In 1792, in order to provide a means of conveying his message to members of his flock who were unable or unwilling to attend his services, Johnson wrote a pamphlet entitled An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island (London, 1794; facs ed Adelaide, 1963). This gospel tract was a good if somewhat uninspiring presentation of evangelical teaching, made personal by references to the circumstances of the colony.

The Johnsons had two surviving children, Milbah Maria who was born in 1790 and died about 1803, and Henry Martin, born in 1792. Henry married but no descendants have been traced. Richard Johnson died 13 or 14 March 1827, and was buried in St Antholin's Church.

Johnson was firmly committed to the evangelical wing of the Church of England, and drew upon himself much the same sort of disdain and disapproval that many others of the same stamp experienced. He nevertheless carried out his duties conscientiously despite hardship, sickness and opposition. He was a man of the people, and was long remembered for his kindness, sincerity, and loyalty to the gospel.

ADB 2; J Bonwick, Australia's First Preacher: The Rev Richard Johnson, First Chaplain of New South Wales (London, 1898); N K Macintosh, Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales: His Life and times, 1755-1827 (Sydney, 1978) [Includes full bibliography]

NEIL KEITH MACINTOSH