Brick walls come in many forms. One of mine has been my my 4x great-grandfather, John Johnson. With that name it’s not always been easy to identify him. You’d be surprised how many men by that name there are in the relevant time period.

I first came across John Johnson’s name on records for his daughter Frances, then in historic newspapers.

John married Mary Jane Thurgate in Sydney in December 1844. A newspaper report of their marriage gave the first clue about where he was originally from—Newcastle Upon Tyne.

John and Mary Jane had three children: a daughter, my 3x great-grandmother Frances (born 1845), and sons Robert (born 1847) and William (born 1849).

In a report of John Johnson’s death, just eight years after he married, Newcastle Upon Tyne is mentioned again, as is Clarence Street as where he was living in Sydney. It also says he was a sail maker, the same as his father-in-law, William Thurgate—perhaps they worked together in Sydney.

Searching records from Newcastle Upon Tyne is where I hit trouble, because there was more than one John Johnson there.

I revisited the brick wall when I was contacted by another researcher who pointed me towards a particular record of baptism at All Saints, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The date matches with John’s age being 37 when he died. His parents’ names are given as Robert and Frances, which are the names of John’s first two children. Perhaps that’s a coincidence, but it’s likely the children were named after their grandparents. And his father’s occupation is recorded as sail maker, just like John.

The family was living at Ouseburn, which is a valley and small tributary that feeds into the River Tyne.

I’ve also since found a marriage record for John’s parents. Robert Johnson and Frances Robson were married in the same church, All Saints, on 10 October 1814.

Returning to this particular brick wall proved to be really successful in taking me back a couple of generations.

Selected references

‘Married’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 December 1844, p.2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28651501, accessed 21 February 2026.

Marriage of John Johnson and Mary J Thurgate, married 26 December 1844, Sydney, 3900/1844 V18443900 74B.

‘Died’, Bell’s Life in Sydney, 12 June 1852, p.3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59774815 , accessed 21 February 2026.

Death of John Johnson, died 9 June 1852, Sydney, 561/1852 v1852561110.

Baptism of John Johnson, baptised 30 August 1815, All Saints, Newcastle Upon Tyne, page 141, number 1127, digitised England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950, FindMyPast.co.uk, accessed 2 November 2024.

Sydney Cove [a view, including the Tank Stream, Fort Macquarie and sailing ships], 1842, John Skinner Prout, print, 19 x 27.9 cm, mounted on cardboard – lithograph, digitised, Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales, YolddzG9, https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YolddzG9, image out of copyright.