Johnson Genealogy

Second wife of Isaac Harvey.
Sophia was born 11 Jun 1831 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire.

On 23 Oct 1854 she married Reuben Johnson (no relative of ours). Children of Reuben and Sophia were Ellen b1855, Lizzie b1857. It seems that around 1858 Reuben and Sophia separated or divorced. There is a Reuben Johnson in Aylburton, Gloucestershire in the 1861 census, living with a Mary Ann Johnson b1837 in Guildford, and a baby girl Mary Ann Johnson b1858 in Worcester. After 1861 there is no clear trace of any of them. The "wife" and "daughter" may not even really have had the last name Johnson, it could have been attributed by the census collector. There is in fact no trace of a marriage of Reuben around that time.

Also in the 1861 census, Sophia is working as a cook for the local vicar in Hinckley, and her status is "married" (not widowed). Her child Lizzie (aged 3) is also in Hinckley but lodging with another family, while Ellen (aged 6) is living with her grandparents (Sophia's parents George and Elizabeth Glover).

Later that year, on 9 Dec 1861, Sophia married Isaac Harvey, so Reuben either died or divorced from Sophia, or this was a bigamous marriage. In her marriage certificate to Isaac Harvey it says she is a "spinster", which is somewhat misleading, although there are various dictionary definitions (e.g. Websters) that define a spinster as "a woman who is not married, divorced or widowed". My suspicion is that they simply separated and started new lives. There is also another error in her marriage certificate, concerning her father, who is named as "George Johnson, Shoemaker". Now her father was in fact "George Glover, Shoemaker", and it looks as if the official mistakenly took her father's last name from her last name (Johnson). The fact that his first name is George and that he was a shoemaker confirms this I believe. Also the fact the Sophia's youngest daughter Helen Johnson was living with George and wife Elizabeth at the time of the 1861 census, and Sophia's brother Francis Glover was a witness at the marriage of Isaac and Sophia.

Isaac and Sophia had 4 children: Isaac b1864, Mary b1866, George b1868, William b1871. In the 1871 census, Sophia's daughter Lizzie Johnson was also living with the Harveys.

Isaac Harvey died in 1900.
Sophia died 3Q 1908 at Ashby.