Catalogue description Correspondence, and other papers relating to the Johnson family of Olney

The correspondence, the bulk of which is dated between 1682 and 1696, is mainly concerned with the disastrous state of the family finances which led to Thomas Johnson spending a period in the Marshalsea (?) prison for debt. There are comparatively few local references, but items numbered 38, 40 and 46 mention lacebuyers carrying letters and money from Olney to London. Among the later items are two letters from William Johnson to his son Woolsey celebrating the proclamation of George I and the defeat of the 'Lancaster Rebels'

The presence of a small but interesting group of papers of Thomas Woolsey, Archdeacon of Northampton, is explained by the marriage of Anne, Woolsey's daughter and heir, to William Johnson. Included are letters from two non-juring bishops of Peterborough

These papers were sold at Sothebys on 8 December, 1983

AR 16-84

The Johnson family were connected with Olney from at least 1633, when they purchased the rectory and advowson of the parish, until 1753, when the Revd. Woolsey Johnson resigned the vicarage of Olney prior to moving to Lincolnshire. The family also owned property in Rutland. Further information about them will be found in the Victoria County History for Buckinghamshire, and in Lipscomb. A drawing of the Johnson family residence known as the Great House, which stood near the parish church, is given in Ratcliff's History of the Newport Hundreds. It was pulled down in the mid-19th century

The Reverend Woolsey Johnson (1696-1756) and family Information supplied by Morag Styles, 1994

Reverend Woolsey Johnson

Born Olney 1696; baptised Olney 19 June 1696

Son of William, grandson of Thomas

Brother of William and Barbara

Matriculated Clare College, Cambridge 1715, MA 1721

Deacon at Peterborough 1720

Rector of Wilby, Northants 1729-56

Vicar of Olney 1735-53

Became vicar of Witham-on-the-Hill, Lincs 1748

Married Jane Russell, Olney 1735

Children: Barbara 1738, born Olney, baptised Holborn

Johnson was sometime curate in Holborn

George William 1740, born London

Frederick Augustus 1743, born and died Olney

Charles Woolsey 1748, born Olney

Mary, wife of Woolsey Johnson

Lived at Packwood House, Warwicks, until a few years before her marriage; wrote a series (over 500 pieces) of literature for children, forming a unique collection, presently held at the University of Indiana

Barbara, daughter of Woolsey and Jane Johnson

Thames and Hudson have published a book about her: Barbara Johnson's Album of Fashions and Fabrics (1987)

The wills of Woolsey Johnson, 1756, and Jane, 1759, are among the records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury held at the Public Record Office, London