William Wright Johnson 1892 -1918

William Wright Johnson was born in 1892 and makes his first appearance in the 1901 Census. The family were living in Cornsay in County Durham. His father was also William Johnson, and his mother was Mary Jane. William was the youngest of eight. There were five boys and three girls. William Johnson Sr. was a Cornsay man born and bred and was a joiner and cartwright. His grandfather, Mark, had been an agricultural labourer. His mother was Isabella.

William’s older brother, Frederick, emigrated to Canada after the 1911 Census but he signed up for the Canadian Forces in 1916. He gave his next-of-kin as his brother, Ernest, whose address is listed as Shincliffe Hall. Frederick was a wheelwright and he returned to Canada after the war where he died in 1960. Ernest also emigrated, but this time to Ohio in the United States. Charles, another brother, emigrated to Canada where he died in 1959. Thomas also emigrated to Canada. Upon the outbreak of war, he, too, enlisted with the Canadian Forces. He had served in the Durham Light Infantry for three years between 1901 -04. He gave Agnes, the oldest of the Johnson siblings, as the next-of-kin and we know from these records that she was still living in Shincliffe Mill. Thomas returned to Canada and died in 1960. George went back to live in the Cornsay area after the war where he became a driver. He died in 1966.

Emily (now Gill), William’s sister, was visiting her family at Shincliffe Mill on the evening of the Census in 1911. She was with her daughter, Nora. Emily was a widow by 1939 and she was living with her sister, Agnes, in the 1939 Register as was Nora, now Fairless.

William Wright Johnson was a tax collector in 1911. He was killed in action in France on the 21^st  of April 1918. His will was made out to Agnes, his sister. He was part of the Lincolnshire Regiment and is buried in Doullens Communal Cemetery. The town of Doullens is between Amiens and Arras. 

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