JOHNSTON, GEORGE (1809-1891)

JOHNSTON, GEORGE, hotel proprietor and tanner and currier; b. Dumfriesshire, Scotland, c1787; m. Jessie - ; d. Chatham, 20 Jan 1859.

George Johnston came to the Miramichi from Scotland around 1816 with his wife and at least two of their older children. In the 1820s, he was the proprietor of a "commodious, large, well-built" hotel in Chatham. This was taken over by Robert Martin in 1830, and under his management, at least, it was known as the Royal Hotel. Johnston had another hotel, sometimes referred to as Johnston's Hotel, until 1839, when he transferred it to his son-in-law J. Fleming Blanchard.

Meanwhile, Johnston also worked as a tanner and currier. He was a partner of Robert Nicholson Sr until 1841, when Nicholson withdrew and started his own tannery. Johnston and his son William then did business at the Johnston & Nicholson tan yard. Their partnership was dissolved in 1843, after which date Johnston evidently continued in business on his own. In 1849 he announced that he was about to retire and would sell or let the tan yard, but he still owned it when it was ravaged by fire in 1853.

In 1847 Johnston was one of the seventeen incorporators of the Miramichi Mechanics' Institute. He and his wife had at least five children. Their daughter Jessie Johnston was the wife of J. Fleming Blanchard, mentioned above, of the prominent Truro, N.S., family, and their daughter Mary L. Johnston was the second wife of James Caie. Their son William Johnston, after leaving the tanning business, became a successful trader. In the late 1840s and early 50s he had seven ships built in Chatham. Around 1851 he moved to Liverpool, England, where he continued in business until his premature death in 1860. Their other known sons were Robert Johnston Jr, who was a businessman in Chatham, and James (or Thomas) R. Johnston, who was licensed as a surgeon in London in 1841 and later practiced his profession on the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.