Author: Johnson, Samuel
Biography:
JOHNSON, Samuel (1740-98: ancestry.co.uk)
He was baptised on 2 Mar. 1741 at Shrewsbury, but was possibly born the previous year, the son of Samuel Johnson and Abigail Maddocks, who had married in 1737. He was educated at Shrewsbury school where his father was a master, and at St. John’s College, Cambridge (matric. 1759, BA 1771, MA 1774). He was ordained deacon and priest (1769) and was appointed curate of Hanwood, and then perpetual curate of Withington (1784-98) (both Shropshire). He was third master at Shrewsbury School 1771-83 and second master 1783-98. He married Elizabeth Vaughan on 8 Jan. 1770 at Westbury, Shropshire. They had several children. He resigned from Shrewsbury on 24 June 1798, died on 2 Sept. aged 59, and was buried on 7 Sept. at St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury. He had begun his literary career with Poems on Several Occasions (1768) and at least three of his later works--An Essay on Education (1771), An Essay on Woman (1772), and The Temple of Fashion (1781)--were well received in their day and are perhaps worth another look. (ancestry.co.uk 20 July 2023; findmypast.co.uk 20 July 2023; CCEd 20 July 2023; GM Nov. 1798, 994; J. E. Auden, Shrewsbury School Register 1734-1908 [1909]) AA