Oliver Johnston, my great, great-grandfather.
Oliver Johnston was born on 30 July 1811 in Edinburgh Canongate, Midlothian. His father, Oliver, was 25 and his mother, Jane, was 26. He married Clementina Johnston (born Ireland) in 1845 in Edinburgh. They had four children over the course of 16 years. He died on 9 August 1884 in Canonmills at age 73 and was buried in Warriston.
At 20, Oliver worked as a cabinetmaker and lived on the Canongate in Edinburgh. The 1841 census shows him, his wife Clementina, and their daughters, Clementina and Jean, at 13 Canal Street. That street is gone now, replaced by Waverley Market.
In the 1760s, Old Town’s crowded conditions led to a competition for a new development plan, won by architect James Craig. As part of the project, the Nor’ Loch was drained. For three hundred years, the loch was a dumping ground for rubbish, including animal entrails, and a place of punishment. People were drowned there as execution, those accused of witchcraft were tested by water, and the town’s ‘dooking stool’ was used for minor offences. James Craig’s plans included ornamental gardens on the south side of Princes Street with a canal and walks. The canal was never built, but Canal Street was.
Oliver married Clementina Ireland in 1845. The 1851 census shows the family at 2 Nottingham Place, South Leith (Greenside): Oliver, Clementina, and their children, Clementina, Jean, Henrietta, and Margaret. Oliver stayed in Greenside after Clementina died on 24 July 1873, at the age of 61. They had been married 28 years.
The 1881 census shows him living in Canonmills, with his daughter Henrietta (my Great-Grandmother), her husband, Johnathan A. Barclay, and their children: John, Clementia, Jane, and Jessie.
Oliver Johnston died on 9 August 1884 in Canonmills at age 73 and is buried in Warriston Cemetery.
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