Johnson, Alfred

(submitted by Berniece Harris)

At the age of eleven, Alfred Johnson (1900–1974) was admitted to the Annie Macpherson Homes, a charitable child care organization. He was sent to Canada by the Home immediately, traveling via the S.S. Tunisian to Quebec City and then by train to Thedford, Ontario.

Chester Orr met him at the train station, and then took him to his farm in the Watford area. Barnardo’s records (where Macpherson Home records were kept after 1925) indicate that Alfred attended school for nine years and that he received $20 a month for working on the farm while attending school. The records also show that he went to Sunday School regularly.

In 1915, Mr. Orr and Alfred agreed that he liked living at the Orr farm and wanted to stay. He was hired for $40 per month, plus room and board.

Mr. Orr taught Alfred to play the violin. He played at many dances in the Watford- Arkona area. His daughter Berniece recalls, “Fiddle music played an important part in his life. He loved music and the fiddle and many family parties featured his talents.”

Through public dances, he met his wife Florence Bannister, from Strathroy. They were married in the late 1920s, settling in the Nairn-Springbank area. Later they moved closer to London where Alfred was employed as greens keeper at the Sunningdale Golf Course while Florence worked at the London Hunt Club. The Johnsons raised three children: George, Harold and Berniece (Harris).

Alfred was lucky to have lived in a loving, caring home as a child. Many “Home” boys were not as lucky. Mr. Orr gave Alfred his first fiddle and also his personal fiddle. So close was the bond that his son Harold Johnson was named after Dr. Harold Orr, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Orr.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Johnson, Alfred

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