Elizabeth (Johnson) was the daughter of Thomas Johnson and Alice Cooper. She was born around 1820 in Headington, Oxfordshire, England. Elizabeth’s father, Thomas, was a carpenter. In December 1845 Elizabeth married Thomas Christopher Atkinson, also a carpenter, in Chelsea, England. The couple lived at 51 Wilton St Westminster in 1851 and, according to the census their son, Thomas, was one year old. They had a daughter, Elizabeth in 1852. The family immigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1853 on the Genghis Khan. They lived in Melbourne for a short while where another daughter, Alice Hannah, was born. They then moved to the Ballarat goldfields where they had Thomas Richard b. 1856; William George b. 1858; Frances Alfred b. 1859; William b. 1861; and Mary Ann b. 1867. Little Thomas had died either on the journey from England or in Melbourne. The family lived in Macarthur St Ballarat. Mary died there on 9 March 1882.

Notes courtesy Rosalie Walker/Darby, 2009.