William Frederick Johnson

William Frederick Johnson (1852–1934) was an Irish priest and naturalist, primarily interested in entomology. He presided over the Armagh Natural History and Philosophical Society around 1895 and contributed numerous notes to the Irish Naturalist.

Life and family

Johnson was born on 20 April 1852 in Cochin, Travancore, India, where he spent about seven years of his life after which the family returned to England. He was the son of Edward J. Johnson, a member of the Church Missionary Society, and his wife Eliza. He was mostly privately educated, though he attended Weymouth grammar school, Surrey, Arlington House school, Portarlington, and the Royal School, Armagh. He then attended Trinity College Dublin, graduating with a BA in 1876 and an MA in 1880. He was ordained a deacon in 1879, and a priest in 1880. He spent most of his life in County Armagh, first as a teacher in Armagh town in the Royal School, then as Rector in Poyntzpass. He was Vicar Choral at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (1881-1895). Here he was a colleague of Reeves of the Royal Irish Academy. He also served as headmaster of the Cathedral Grammar School. Later in life he spent time in various parts of County Down and County Louth.

On 20 April 1880, Johnson married Emma Susan Hardy. She died in 1921. He remarried on 5 December 1922, to Wilhemina McDowell. He didn't have any children.

Later in life, Johnson suffered with ill-health, but his wife and niece, Helen Craig, continued to collect on his behalf. He was remembered as a kind mentor to younger naturalists and other keen amateurs.

Johnson's Coleoptera Collection is in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. The Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and other orders are in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. Unfortunately none of his correspondence has survived.

Works Johnson, W.F. & Halbert, J.N. (1902). A list of the beetles of Ireland. Proc. R. Ir. Acad.6(3): 535–827. Johnson, W.F. & Halbert, J.N. (1912). Clare Island Survey. 28. Terrestrial Coleoptera. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 31: 1–24