author
Richard Johnson
1755–1827
Best known as the first Christian cleric in Australia, this Church of England chaplain arrived with the First Fleet and became an important figure in the colony’s earliest years. His life joined ministry, education, and public duty in a harsh and uncertain new settlement.
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About the author
Born in Yorkshire around 1755, he was educated at Kingston-upon-Hull grammar school and later studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Before entering the ministry, he worked in farming and teaching, and he was ordained in 1784.
In 1787 he was appointed chaplain to the new settlement in New South Wales and sailed out with the First Fleet, reaching Australia in 1788. He is widely remembered as the first Christian cleric in Australia. In the early colony, his work went beyond leading services: accounts of the period also connect him with efforts to improve public morality, health, and schooling.
He served in New South Wales until 1800. Richard Johnson died on March 13, 1827. Though not a literary figure in the modern sense, he remains a notable historical writer and religious voice through his published addresses and sermons from the colonial period.