, J. White, Archdeacon Hamilton, Nathaniel Johnson,
Isaac Oluwole, R.E. Willoughby
Middle row: Rev. V.S. Wright, Mrs. Ingham, Bishop
Ernest Graham Ingham, Mrs. Darwin Fox, Rev. James Johnson, Rev. J.W. Dickinson
Front row: Rev. F.W.Dodd, Rev. W. Darwin Fox He was a school teacher until 1863, when he entered the ministry. The CMS was impressed by Johnson's potential, and sent him to its Yoruba mission in
Nigeria, first in
Lagos and then in
Abeokuta. He was unsuccessful as a
missionary, perhaps because of his rigid morality, and in 1880 was instead appointed pastor of the Breadfruit Church in Lagos. When the
Lagos Colony was separated from the
Gold Coast in 1886, the legislative council of the new colony was composed of four official and three unofficial members.
Lagos Colony Governor Alfred Moloney nominated two Africans as unofficial representatives, Johnson and the trader
Charles Joseph George. In 1900, Johnson was consecrated a bishop, to serve as an Assistant Bishop in the
Diocese of Western Equatorial Africa with oversight of the
Niger Delta and
Benin territories, holding this post until his death in 1917. He believed in a
puritan,
evangelistic Christianity, but was hostile to other aspects of European culture which he felt were not suitable to Africa. Johnson received the degree
Doctor of Divinity (DD) from the
Durham University in March 1900. ==See also==