Johnson Family - Prees Green, Shropshire

The Johnson's were related by marriage to the Williams' family from Model Cottage, Prees Green.  Herbert Victor Williams (1871-1944) married Ada Roberts from Audley in 1896 and they had a child Hilda Emma Williams ("Dolly").  Ada died 2 years later and Victor Williams brought Dolly back with him to live with his parents John and Harriet Williams at Model Cottage, Prees Green.

In 1919 Victor Williams married again to Lily Johnson (1896-1982) and they moved to Meadowside a few years later.  Lily was born in Prees Green to a single mother Ada Johnson.  Her birth certificate states the mother's name as Edith Johnson, which is not correct and seems to be a deliberate attempt to conceal the real mother.  Ada does not appear to have been involved in Lily's upbringing as in 1901 when aged 5 she was shown as a "Nurse Child" with an (unrelated) Williams family at Prees Green.  In 1911 she was a domestic servant with her aunt in Shawbury, Mary Abbotts (Ada's sister).

The name Edith Johnson also appears on the 1901 Census as a Cook in the household of the same  James and Mary Abbotts in Shawbury but described only as a "Relative".   However, Ada's Will in 1965 clearly identifies Lily as her daughter so "Edith" is certainly Ada, Mary's sister.

Ada was one of (at least) 8 children of Thomas (1835-1917) and Hannah [Sudlow] Johnson (1837-1920) of Prees Green.  The others for whom there are documents are Mary who married John Abbotts, Henry (Harry) who married Leticia Morris (second marriage) and Richard who apparently did not marry.  When Thomas died in 1917 his Will bequeathed everything to his wife for her lifetime and then to his son Richard in recognition of his "many years of faithful service at home".  None of the other children were recognized.  His Will dated 1908 describes him as a "Yeoman" and he signed it with a "X".  Unfortunately it does not give his precise address in Prees Green but it was presumably Jessamine Cottage.

Richard "Dick" Johnson (1872-1948) lived at Jessamine Cottage, a small holding at Prees Green until his death in 1948. His Will bequeathed everything split equally between Lily and her daughter Mary Faith Chidlow of Meadowside (which was immediately across the road from Jessamine Cottage).  The Will does not specify the relationship but of course he was Lily's uncle.  It is not clear that this was the property referred to in the Will of Thomas Johnson but it is likely.

Henry "Harry" Johnson (1881-1963) appears in a photo of his marriage to Leticia Morris in 1961.  The photo was sent in a letter written by Leticia dated 9 Nov 1961 to "Mrs Abbott & Miss Johnson" in Shawbury (ie Harry's sisters Mary and Ada) which shows that Ada was there at least until 1961.  Mary's husband James Abbotts had died in 1956.

Ada moved out of the area sometime after 1901.  I have not found a 1911 record but in 1921 she was a housekeeper cook in Manchester.  By 1939 she had returned and was again living with her sister Mary Abbotts in Shawbury.  Mary died in 1964, age 96.  It appears that Ada may have then stayed for a time in Shrewsbury with her niece Rose Smith, daughter of her brother John Johnson.  In her Will dated 1965 she made monetary bequests to two of Rose's children and she made Rose the contingent residual beneficiary in the event that her daughter Lily Williams predeceased her.  She died in 1970 at a nursing home in Shrewsbury age 93, the last surviving sibling, 135 years after the birth of her father Thomas Johnson.  Rose Smith's daughter Muriel Rose Smith, her great-niece, emigrated to the United States in 1953 and died in Florida in 2004.

All the documents referenced are in the Chidlow/Bradshaw document library.

The family:
Thomas Johnson m Hannah Sudlow
	Thomas Johnson 1857-1927
	Joseph Johnson 1859-1947
	John Johnson 1864-1951
	Mary Elizabeth Johnson 1870-1964
	Richard (Dick) Johnson 1872-1948
	Samuel Johnson 1876-1895
	Ada Johnson 1877-1970
	Henry (Harry) Johnson 1881-1963


Richard V Chidlow
Sep 2024