Ida Grace Johnston

Date of Birth: 16 October 1861

Place of Residence: 96 Elizabeth Street Launceston Tasmania Australia

Spouse Name: James Dawson Johnston

Children's Names: Vernon Dawson & Eric Mason

Notes:

Mrs Ida Grace Johnston was born on 16 Oct 1861 at Dunorlan, Tasmania, the second of three children of John Mason (1838-1864) and Charlotte Augusta Brumby (1838-1871) who married on 8 Sep 1859 at ‘Harwick Hill’, near Longford. Ida’s older sister, Lilly Augusta, died aged 9 in 1870. Ida was orphaned just before her tenth birthday when her mother succumbed to a long and painful illness on 4 Sep 1871. Her brother, Louis Clarence Mason, born in 1864, married Ada Sophia Pitt, had three children and died aged 24 in Mar 1888.

Ida married James Dawson Johnston, chemist and druggist, on 24 May 1883 at the Wesleyan Chapel, Longford. Their two sons were born in Launceston: Vernon in 1884 and Eric in 1888. Ida was a soprano in the Exhibition Choir of 1891-92. Her husband James died on 26 Feb 1924 aged 66 and was buried at Carr Villa in Section E 241. Ida died on 2 Aug 1931 aged 69 and was buried with her husband. Ida’s husband James and her seven-year-old son Vernon are also pictured in the Family Album.

Contributors: Marion Sargent & Barbara Valentine Mar 2009