Sir John Johnson, Loyalist Baronet

Robert Merrett was Professor of English at the University of Alberta.

The story of this book is a sad one: it relates the decline of an admirable, even heroic, Loyalist family. John Johnson was knighted in 1765, knighthood being part of his father’s reward for having led a colonial army decisively against the French in 1755. While John Johnson was soaking up the aura of the Crown and the British Empire in London, his father was discouraging neighbours in the Mohawk Valley from co-operating with the rebels there. Sir William Johnson had built up an estate of over 200,000 acres and established himself firmly in the colonial aristocracy as a result of effective diplomacy among the Indian nations whose loyalty was critical to Britain’s power in North America.

Sir John did not have his father’s obviously remarkable ambition. Having grown up in luxurious surroundings, he had domestic rather than professional inclinations. These inclinations were thwarted when Sir William stopped him from marrying a sweetheart with whom he had two children. However, although his father obliged him to marry into the aristocracy, Sir John provided for his mistress for the rest of his life.

Sir John was 32 when he inherited the family estate. He worked hard to develop it yet was obliged to take up arms against the American authorities: he formed a regiment for the family’s defence. But neighbours reported his subversive activities, and his arms and money were confiscated. He was forced to abandon the estate and to flee to Canada. He financed and conducted raids from Canada against former neighbours.

His efforts were not well rewarded. He was treated in a condescending manner on many occasions, often experiencing the inflexibility and inefficiency of the British administration in Canada. He earned the titles of Brigadier-General and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, but he was taken for granted and belittled by the various governors-general and other political appointees. He never enjoyed the respect that his family’s earlier position and support of the Crown led him to expect. The land grants that were supposed to compensate him were never fully given and certainly never without galling disputes. Although he remained necessary through the 1780s to the control of the Indians, he was increasingly given orders that were inconsiderate in the extreme. He felt insulted when he was passed over as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada and when requests for posts for his children were consistently turned down. To crown it all, his wife’s dislike of Canada developed to the point where she would not live with him. Johnson’s family dispensed, death carried off half his 14 children, and money problems became extreme. His closing years emphasize that he was a restless, displaced, and materially and politically inept aristocrat. When he died at the age of 88, he was respected by the general public, but he was a lonely, bitter, and depressed man. Though not a charismatic person, he does seem admirable for the way he kept faith in and sustained a political system that treated him as callously as one can imagine possible.

This is, surprisingly, the first biography of this prominent Canadian. It is a plain and matter-of-fact account which avoids generalizing in the way this review does. To my mind, its narrative appeal is less than it should be precisely because it avoids generalizations. The historian does not attempt to depict Sir John’s character in a rounded way nor does he judge it in the manner expected of a biography. However, through the careful details provided, the reader will be able to trace the moving story of an interesting and influential but sad and isolated figure.