Christopher Johnston c.1804

You haven’t said what denomination Christopher was, though I’d hazard a guess at Church of Ireland, as that is the most common denomination for that surname in Fermanagh in the 1901 census.

I assume you don’t know whereabouts in the county the family originated. Johnston is a very common surname in Fermanagh, with 1135 Johnston(e) and 24 Johnson in the 1901 census of the county, of whom 6 were named Christopher. So presumably the name was just as common in the early 1800s. Care is needed to ensure you connect to the right family.

A small fragment of the 1821 census of Fermanagh has survived. I searched it. There were about 250 Johnstons. Just 1 Christopher. He was born c 1795 and had a wife named Margaret. So not your family, I suspect:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1821/Fermanagh/Derryvullan/Druminchinmore/11/

There are about 30 Church of Ireland parishes in Fermanagh. Not all have records for the period you are interested in. (Some were lost in the 1921 fire in Dublin). Those that do exist are not all on-line. You could get a researcher to go through the remaining records at PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. Otherwise DNA testing might be the only way to match up with the right family.

Thank you for the response. Christopher Johnston named his religious conviction as Church of England. This was entered in the ships log to Australia. He was in the Irish Constabulary and stated he could read and write. He and his wife Ann left Southhampton in 1854 along with their 5 children.

Jeanette,

The RIC records on Ancestry confirm Christopher joined  the force in 1828 aged 21 and that he was born in Fermanagh. They contain a record of his marrying. It might be worth looking at the full records to see if you can glean any more information about him.  In general, RIC staff had to have served 7 years before they were allowed to marry, so his marriage is probably post 1835. Also you normally didn’t serve in the county where you or your spouse had family, so she may well come from a different part of Ireland. And the marriage might well be there too.

Church of England in Ireland is the Church of Ireland. Only about half the Church of Ireland records for Fermanagh still exist. A lot were lost in the 1921 fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin. Not all those that do exist are on-line. Some are but for the most complete set, you need to go to PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. They also have  a copy of the RIC service records.