John Alexander Johnston and Mary Crawford were both born in Fermanagh; Northern Ireland. This photo of Cuilcagh; Fermanagh is by Carl Meehan. License: CC BY-A 2.0; click image to see original photograph.
2nd Great-grandparents – Maternal father’s line of Johnston Family
John Alexander Johnston
John Alexander Johnston was born in 1794 in Feddans, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He was the son of John Johnston; the name of his mother is not known at this time.
Mary Crawford
Mary Crawford was born in 1802 in Drumkeeran, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. She was the daughter of William Crawford and Sarah Loane.
At the age of 27 years, John Alexander Johnston, son of John and Mrs. Johnston, married 19 year old Mary Crawford, daughter of William Crawford and Sarah Loane, in 1821 in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. They had ten children in 28 years.
This image of the Drumkeeran Church of Ireland at Tubrid was taken by Kenneth Allen and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. Click image to see original photograph.
The Parish Drumkeeran Church of Ireland at Tubrid near Kesh was built in 1774. It was this church that the Johnston, Crawford, Gray and Wilson families attended.
Children of John Alexander Johnston and Mary Crawford
- Son John was born in 1822 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. John married Mary Jane Young on 13 December 1855 in Tyrone. They had one child during their marriage and John died in 1905 in Ireland having lived a long life of 83 years. John and his family remained in Ireland and never made the voyage to Australia.
- Daughter Sarah was born on 4 March 1827 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Sarah married William Young on 18 October 1855 in Colaghty, Fermanagh. They had one child during their marriage. Sarah and her family remained in Ireland and never made the voyage to Australia.
- Son Robert was born on 10 May 1829 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Robert married his wife Margaret on 27 February 1855 in Colaghty, Fermanagh. Robert and Margaret Johnston and their son William emigrated from England to Australia aboard the ship Fitzjames; the voyage began at Plymouth on 23 December 1856 and ended in Sydney on 1 April 1857. His brother Edward also emigrated to Sydney aboard the ship Fitzjames, they both had a cousin James Moffitt in the colony already. Robert Johnston died on 5 July 1920 in Lismore, New South Wales, at the age of 91.
- Son Edward was born on 17 April 1831 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Edward Johnston emigrated from England to Australia aboard the ship Fitzjames. The voyage began at Plymouth on 23 December 1856 and ended in Sydney on 1 April 1857. His brother Robert. Wife Margaret and son William also emigrated to Sydney aboard the ship Fitzjames, they both had a cousin James Moffitt in the colony already. Edward married Caroline Henrietta McMahon in the Kiama District, New South Wales, in 1860 when he was 29 years old.
- Daughter Caroline Jane was born on 1 March 1835 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Caroline married John Moffitt on 29 May 1860 in Kiama, New South Wales. She died on 31 December 1865 in Gerringong, New South Wales, at the age of 30.
- Son William Alexander was born on 17 May 1836 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. William married Sophia Anne Gray in the Kiama District, New South Wales, in 1866 when he was 30 years old. He died on 7 January 1910 in Alstonville, New South Wales, at the age of 73.
- Son James was born in 1842 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. James immigrated to New South Wales with his parents in 1860.
- Son David was born on 9 October 1845 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. David Johnston was our direct ancestor, he married Margaret Jane Black on 4 May 1875 at the Wesleyan Parsonage in Kiama, New South Wales.
- Son George was born in 1846 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. George married Margaret Ann McMahon in 1869 in the Kiama District, New South Wales. He died on 16 May 1886 in Jamberoo, New South Wales, at the age of 40.
- Daughter Mary Ann was born on 15 March 1850 in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. She married Alexander Adams on 30 June 1880 in Robertson, New South Wales. Mary died in 1932 in Greta, New South Wales, at the age of 82.
Death of Father in 1850
John Alexander’s father John Johnston passed away in 1850 in Northern Ireland at the age of 80.
From Ireland to the Colony of New South Wales
Using an assisted passage scheme, John and Mary Johnston together with their six youngest children, emigrated from Northern Ireland in 1859 and arrived in Port Jackson, New South Wales on 6 January 1860. Their second son, Robert Johnston who had arrived in New South Wales in 1857 sponsored their immigration and paid the required deposits totalling £40.0s.0d on 4 March 1859.
Ships at Circular Quay in the 1860’s courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales
The port of departure on 8 October 1859 for the voyage to Australia was Liverpool, England.
Life in New South Wales
The Johnston’s initially settled at Fountaindale, about six miles (9 km) south of Wyong, in part of Central Coast region of New South Wales.
They later moved to Robertson in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. The town of Robertson is located on the edge of an elevated plateau known as the Illawarra escarpment and is about 22 miles (35 km) from the coast. John Alexander Johnston was a wonderful horseman and he believed that Australian houses were not good enough to stable his horse in.
The town of Robertson was named after Sir John Robertson, KCMG who is best remembered for land reform and the Robertson Land Acts of 1861, which sought to open the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the squatters.
John Alexander Johnston died on 22 November 1878 in New South Wales.
Mary Johnston née Crawford died on 17 June 1883 at the residence of her daughter, Mary Ann and son-in-law, Alexander Adams, of Bourke Street, Surrey Hills, Sydney, New South Wales.
Both John and Mary are buried in the Church of England Cemetery at Robertson, New South Wales.