Publications
Thomas Johnson and the Charlton Hunt, by Rev. F. H. Arnold, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., published 1904 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 47, notes & queries, pp.153-156) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2132] & The Keep [LIB/500265] & S.A.S. library View Online
Sir H.H. Johnston: African Pioneer, his Sussex Associations, by S.C.M. Contributor(s), published 1927 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. I no. 11, article, pp.470-472) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2303][Lib 8326] & The Keep [LIB/500137]
Obituary: Philip M. Johnston, by F. B. S. [Frank Bentham Stevens], published February 1937 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VI no. 5, article, pp.152-153) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12537][Lib 8863][Lib 8224] & The Keep [LIB/500208] & S.A.S. library
Obituary: Hilda Johnstone, by G. D. J. [G. D. Johnston], published November 1961 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XV no. 8, article, p.282) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8233] & The Keep [LIB/500217] & S.A.S. library
Obituary: George Douglas Johnston, 1886-1971, by Francis W. Steer, published 1972 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 110, obituary, pp.1-2) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2195] & The Keep [LIB/500319] & S.A.S. library
Utopia Reconsidered. Edmond Holmes, Harriet Johnson and the School at Sompting, by M. H. Hyndman, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.351-357) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library
Ditchling Museum : catalogue of the permanent collection of works by Edward Johnston, Eric Gill, The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic and the other famous artists working in Ditchling in the 1920s, published 1993 (24 pp., Ditchling Museum) accessible at: British Library
Death in Police Custody, by Molly Nalon, published March 2001 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 14 no. 5, article, pp.162-163) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14881] & The Keep [LIB/508823] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:1911 extract from The Hastings & St. Leonard Weekly Mail & Times No. 1776 entitled Three Tragic Deaths: Died in a Cell which recounts the death of Frederick John Johnson while in the custody of Hasting Police.
A Little School on the Downs: The Story of pioneer educationalisy Harriet Finlay Johnson, headmistress at Sompting School, West Sussex, 1897-1910, by Mary Bowmaker, published 1 December 2002 (136 pp., Woodfield Publishing, ISBN-10: 1903953308 & ISBN-13: 9781903953303) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:In the early years of the 20th century, the village school at Sompting (on the South Downs just north of Worthing) became the focus of national and international interest due to the modern ideas of its headmistress, Harriet Finlay Johnson, whose liberal approach to teaching challenged the authoritarian methods commonly in use at the time.
Having taken up her post as headmistress at Sompting school in 1897, Harriet introduced such items as nature rambles, educational visits, library mornings, lessons out of doors, cookery, handicraft, art and drama into the curriculum, and allowed her pupils a degree of freedom and autonomy that was unheard of in other Victorian schools.
The results were so remarkable that educationalists from far and wide were soon making their way to Sussex to see Harriet's school for themselves. Many of them liked what they saw, and Harriet's ideas were subsequently put into practice by other teachers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In time they would become integral to almost every school curriculum.
But then, in 1909, just as it seemed she had the world of education at her feet, Harriet's glittering career came to a premature end when she announced her intention to marry 20-year-old George Weller, a former pupil 17 years her junior.
Despite the fact that there was nothing improper about their relationship and that Harriet and her husband would remain happily married until George's death in 1952, the scandal was too much for the authorities at the time and Harriet was forced to leave the job she loved so much. She would never enter a classroom again.
However, this was not the end of her story, because she now had time to write a book expounding the ideas she had formulated during her 12 years as a teaching practitioner. The book, entitled The Dramatic Method of Teaching, attracted a great deal of attention in educational circles and influenced the thinking of teachers as far away as the USA and Japan. Harriet's small place in history was assured.
Mary Bowmaker has gathered a wealth of information from a variety of sources, including interviews with former pupils and surviving members of Harriet's family, to tell the whole story of Harriet's short but highly influential career for the first time.
It is a fascinating and entertaining insight into the character of an extraordinary woman who, in twelve short years, managed to make a little school on the downs the focus of international interest and acclaim - a truly remarkable feat.
Having taken up her post as headmistress at Sompting school in 1897, Harriet introduced such items as nature rambles, educational visits, library mornings, lessons out of doors, cookery, handicraft, art and drama into the curriculum, and allowed her pupils a degree of freedom and autonomy that was unheard of in other Victorian schools.
The results were so remarkable that educationalists from far and wide were soon making their way to Sussex to see Harriet's school for themselves. Many of them liked what they saw, and Harriet's ideas were subsequently put into practice by other teachers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In time they would become integral to almost every school curriculum.
But then, in 1909, just as it seemed she had the world of education at her feet, Harriet's glittering career came to a premature end when she announced her intention to marry 20-year-old George Weller, a former pupil 17 years her junior.
Despite the fact that there was nothing improper about their relationship and that Harriet and her husband would remain happily married until George's death in 1952, the scandal was too much for the authorities at the time and Harriet was forced to leave the job she loved so much. She would never enter a classroom again.
However, this was not the end of her story, because she now had time to write a book expounding the ideas she had formulated during her 12 years as a teaching practitioner. The book, entitled The Dramatic Method of Teaching, attracted a great deal of attention in educational circles and influenced the thinking of teachers as far away as the USA and Japan. Harriet's small place in history was assured.
Mary Bowmaker has gathered a wealth of information from a variety of sources, including interviews with former pupils and surviving members of Harriet's family, to tell the whole story of Harriet's short but highly influential career for the first time.
It is a fascinating and entertaining insight into the character of an extraordinary woman who, in twelve short years, managed to make a little school on the downs the focus of international interest and acclaim - a truly remarkable feat.
Edward Johnston : master calligrapher, by Peter Holliday, published 2007 (xx + 389 pp., The British Library & Oak Knoll Press, ISBN-10: 0712349278 & ISBN-13: 9780712349277) accessible at: British Library
Visiting Edward Johnston, by Margaret Alexander, published November 2015 in The Journal of modern craft (8(3), article, pp.383-387)
Reproduces passages from material held at the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft in an unpublished memoir by calligrapher Margaret Alexander (1902-1997) about her visits to calligrapher and typographer Johnston (1872-1944) at Ditchling