Author: Henry Charles Ross Johnson
Author: Henry Charles Ross Johnson (1830–1881)
Biography: Henry Charles Ross Johnson was born on 4 August 1830 in Devonport, the son of Alfred and Jane Johnson. He trained for the law and became a barrister. It seems he wrote the single novel, Walter Raleigh Sinjohn (1870), which he styled a "romancette." His married life was irregular. In 1859, he married Ann Dennis and the couple had one son. After his wife's death in 1863, he married a second time to Jessie Elizabeth Webster. During this marriage, he went bankrupt and went out to India via South Africa. In the latter place he "married" Maria Johanna Cornelia Restall and had three children. Johnson's second wife in 1877 successfully petitioned for divorce on the grounds of bigamy and adultery (though he was never tried for bigamy). Subsequently, Johnson and Restall were married in 1878. Due to his health, the family moved from Calcutta to Mysore where he worked for the local royal family. He died on 16 April 1881 in Mysore. During his life he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and later his son Cecil would also pen a novel in 1911.
Author Tags:
References: Englishman's Overland Mail (2 May 1881)
Fiction Titles:
- Walter Raleigh Sinjohn: A Romancette. 1 vol. London: Bentley, 1870.