John Russell R.A. 1745-1806

half-length, wearing a red coat

John Harley Esq.;
Anonymous sale in these Rooms, 21st March 2002, lot 103

John Johnson (1732-1814) was born in Leicester, the son of a joiner and appears to have trained as a carpenter. He was in London by 1759 and by the late 1760's was established as a carpenter in Berners Street. In 1782, he was appointed Surveyor to the County of Essex, a post which he held for thirty years. In this capacity he designed his most important work, the Shire Hall at Chelmsford (1789-1791). He also designed more than twenty country houses, mainly in Essex and the Midlands, as well as working on London houses among others, for Sir Charles Bampfylde, 7th Earl of Galloway, and Sir Hugh Palliser.