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To view more samplers click here www.gould.com.au www.archivecdbooks.com.au · The widest range of Australian, English, · Over 1600 rare Australian and New Zealand Irish, Scottish and European resources books on fully searchable CD-ROM · 11000 products to help with your research · Over 3000 worldwide · A complete range of Genealogy software · Including: Government and Police 5000 data CDs from numerous countries gazettes, Electoral Rolls, Post Office and Specialist Directories, War records, Regional Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter histories etc. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK www.unlockthepast.com.au · Promoting History, Genealogy and Heritage in Australia and New Zealand · A major events resource · regional and major roadshows, seminars, conferences, expos · A major go-to site for resources www.familyphotobook.com.au · free information and content, www.worldvitalrecords.com.au newsletters and blogs, speaker · Free software download to create biographies, topic details · 50 million Australasian records professional looking personal photo books, · Includes a team of expert speakers, writers, · 1 billion records world wide calendars and more organisations and commercial partners · low subscriptions · FREE content daily and some permanently This sampler file includes the title page, and various sample pages from this volume. This file is fully searchable (read search tips page) Archive CD Books Australia exists to make reproductions of old books, documents and maps available on CD to genealogists and historians, and to co-operate with family history societies, libraries, museums and record offices to scan and digitise their collections for free, and to assist with renovation of old books in their collection. A Toast to the Future: The Story of George Johnson and His Family Ref. AU9051 Reproduced with permission of Graham Jaunay. Navigating this CD To view the contents of this CD use Acrobat Reader’s forward and back buttons to browse through the pages, alternatively use the INDEX bookmark to search for specific information and then use the bookmarks and Acrobat’s page buttons (or slide bar) to go to the relevant page. Use Acrobat Reader’s bookmark functions to jump to highlighted sections. To activate bookmarks click on “Window” and then “Show bookmarks” (or press F5) Searching this CD This book has been formatted to be searchable using Adobe Acrobat Reader. • Adobe Reader 6 or later is recommended for more advanced searching capability within a file or across multiple files. • Generally 95% - 99% of the words can be searched. Where the original type was poor the words may not be recognized for searching. • For more detailed explanation and tips to get the best search results click here The technical advancements that allow this searching bring a wonderful finding aid but there is still no substitute for reading the book! Copyright ©2005 Archive CD Books Australia Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved For more books on CD from Archive CD Books Australia, see the web pages at www.archivecdbooks.com.au FOR E WORD : This story would not have been possible without the continued supporting work by the committee of the "Family of George Johnson Association Inc". This organisation was established in 1985 out of an interest to research the genealogy of the family. David Prime and Malcolm Jaunay had been undertaking this study for many years and had infected other members of the family with the desire to know more about their forebears. Out of this grew the committee and attempts to write a history were formalised. From 1847 until the present day, information has been gathered from formal records, newspapers and reminiscences. Our family has not been noted for keeping written records although a wealth of photographic material exists. Thus the task of following up the stories of our pioneer men has demanded much researching and ingenuity. Several points have only emerged after resifting through the huge amount of data that has been collected. Some issues have not been clarified due to the passage of time. Here the work is largely speculative. Where this occurs the points are qualified in the text. The life of our pioneer women was rarely recorded other than as scant references within the Birth Register. Like all women of the day, their life was one of subordination to the men and, in our family, of extremely hard work. While the men laboured on their farms, their wives kept the home, the kitchen garden and looked after their large brood of children without the assistance of the most basic of home appliances. Members of the committee have taken on varying roles according to their skills. All have been involved in researching their own family branch, while the more inclined have also followed up branches which did not have a representative on the committee. The writing of the book has been overseen by the whole committee who have acted as proof-readers and critics. These hard working people were:- Ruth Hooper Jean James Malcolm Jaunay Wendy Neumann David Prime Jack Prisk John Shiell Colin Whitters. Unfortunately Jack passed away before he could witness the product of his efforts. I must make special mention here of the tremendous amount of research undertaken by David Prime. He has consistently come up with the answers to most of the difficult questions I have put to him. From beyond the committee I would have to acknowledge the input by Andree Prime. The retention of her father's records led us to Phoebe Lamer, the Cannells and the Dickersons. Andree's research into Capt. Dowsett in particular was also invaluable. Reg Carpenter spent a day showing us the Houghton, Hermitage, Glen Ewin, and Highercombe districts and the places of interest to the family. Thank you to Glenys deWit, Elizabeth Jaunay and Sigrid Whitters for proof-reading the manuscript. I have been conscious of the need to write an appealing book which may interest readers beyond the family. Hence the book does not always follow the usual family history format. Graham Jaunay BA, Dip T, MACE 1989 5 CONTENTS Chapter 1 Great Expectations 9 Chapter 2 Hermitage Farmers 17 The Family of George Johnson 29 Chapter 3 Down Port Adelaide Way 30 The Family of Sophia Dowsett 40 Chapter 4 The Coach Builder's Lady 60 The Family of Sarah Prime 69 Chapter 5 The Tallyman 74 The Family of George Johnson 2 90 Chapter 6 Down on the Farm 105 The Family of Edward Johnson 113 Chapter 7 Charles Johnson 112 Chapter $ The Blacksmith's Family 115 The Family of Phebe Stokes 123 Chapter 9 The Civic Leader's Family 129 The Family of Alice Cole 135 Chapter 10 The Storekeeper's Family 139 The Family of Elizabeth Possingham 143 Chapter 11 Alphabet Johnson 145 The Family of John Johnson 154 Chapter 12 Another School Teacher 157 The Family of William Johnson 162 Epilogue 167 Acknowledgements 169 Photographs, maps and illustrations 171 Pioneer ship data 174 General Index 176 Family names and profiles 197 6 Chapte r 1 G rea t Ex pec ta ti ons In August 1847 a little family group stood on a dirty Southampton dock . They were about to undertake a great adventure. A venture which would take them to the other side of the earth in a tiny sailing ship subjected to the whims of the weather and elements . They were destined to be the pathfinders of our family in Australia - pioneers in a strange faraway country. Who made up this little group and what was to be their destiny? George and Jane Johnson, George and Phoebe Dickerson , Sophia Johnson , Sophia Spooner, Thomas Cannell and William Dickerson made up this group and this is their story... There are no personal accounts of their arrival in South Australia. Signed documents show that they were illiterate. However , contemporary records of conditions at the time paint a very clear picture for us of the circumstances our pioneer ancestors found themselves in from the time they took the decision to migrate to the colony of South Australia. Free passage to South Australia was usually granted to those who , married or single , were under thirty years of age. Older individuals over thirty years of age, like George and Phoebe had to pay their own way - £20 for those travelling steerage and up to £100 for cabin passengers . George 's land purchases in the colony indicated that he had access to a considerable amount of cash. Just where these funds originated from is lost in the passage of time, but free emigrants were also expected to be chiefly agricultural labourers, shepherds or servants and not intending to buy land or invest in the colony . This requirement would have also obliged the Dickersons to pay for their passage. Whether the Johnsons emigrated with the intention of purchasing land is not clear, but they certainly obliged themselves of the free passage. The Surgeon 's Daughter That very decision to become colonists is not even recorded , but by delving into the records of the family 's personal circumstances one can draw some possible reasons. The family lived in Lincolnshire, England along the coastline of The Wash in the area of the towns, Holbeach and Long Sutton where they worked as farmers. Enquiries reveal that there were in fact three George Johnsons born in about 1820 in the immediate area. We do not know if any of these was indeed our ancestor. The George born to George and Elizabeth on 27th January, 1820 at Burton upon Stather, Lincolnshire seems a likely candidate.