JOHNSON, William II (by 1523-53 or later), of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1523. ?m. Catherine, da. of Thomas Dalton of Kingston-upon-Hull.1

Offices Held

Sheriff, Kingston-upon-Hull 1547-8.

Biography

Save that he was a resident of Hull by 1544 and office holder there, all that has been discovered about William Johnson is that he was one of several merchants trading in cloth, leather and lead who in 1546 were arrested at Bordeaux but shortly afterwards released on the command of Francis I. He was presumably a member of the family which produced James Johnson, twice mayor in the early 16th century, and John Johnson, who was excused the same office in 1541, and he may have married Catherine Dalton, a daughter of one of the most prominent families in Hull and kinswoman of the sheriff during the year of Johnson’s two elections. Bearers of his name include a cousin and executor of Tristram Cooke and two Hull residents whose wills, made in 1568 and 1583, were proved in 1578 and 1583. All that is known of Johnson’s role in the Commons is that he was not among those Members who resisted the early stages of the Marian restoration of Catholicism.2

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Alan Davidson

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference, LP Hen. VIII, xix. Dugdale’s Vis. Yorks. ed. Clay, ii. 328.
  • 2. E179/203/233; LP Hen. VIII, xxi; T. Gent, Kingston-upon-Hull (1735), 33, 109, 117; J. M. Lambert, Two Thousand Years of Gild Life, 306, 327; PPC, vii. 250; PCC 8 Peter; York wills 21, f. 123; 22, f. 413.