Collection 44 - John Francis Johnstone collection

Identity area

Reference code

OTUFM 44

Title

John Francis Johnstone collection

Date(s)

  • [ca. 1875] - 2013 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 cm of textual records + 1 compact disc + 1 USB thumb drive

Context area

Name of creator

(1831-1913)

Biographical history

John Francis Johnstone was born on November 25, 1838 in Kirkburton, near Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire. His father William was a tea merchant; his mother was Anne Whitehead.

In official birth registration documents for his children, J.F. is described as a teacher, but it is not known whether he taught just music. According to family lore, his future wife, Mary Curtis was at boarding school where she was sent by her parents who lived in Jamaica (Timothy Curtis was a Methodist minister/missionary who spent his career in Jamaica, moving from parish to parish). However, Mary Curtis was 18 at the time of her marriage, and in spite of family tradition was probably not a schoolgirl when she wed Frank. The family appears to have moved around a bit but always within the small circle of Bradford and its environs. Mother to five children, Mary Curtis died in 1877, three years after the last child was born, and soon afterwards J.F. married Catherine McGregor who was born in Scotland, and according to the census of 1881 was ten years older than her husband. In 1880 the family emigrated to Toronto where J.F. is described in the 1881 census as a music teacher. According to family lore Catherine returned to Britain.

J.F.’s obituary in the February 25, 1913 issue of The Toronto Daily Star gives further details of his life. “Mr. Johnstone was a well-known figure in musical circles in Toronto during the past 35 years. He had for many years his studio at the corner of Spadina Avenue and College Street. He was organist of Broadway Tabernacle and Christ Church, Lippincott and College, for a number of years. He was organist of Surrey Lodge, S.O.E. [Sons of England], of which he was a member for thirty years and was secretary of the Hospital Committee for the Sons of England for a number of years. In this work, which took him into the hospitals, his kindness and cheery face made him beloved by all who came in contact with him.”

J.F. Johnstone is given an entry in The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, and although some of the facts about his early life are incorrect, the text does mention that “he was associated with the CNE” and “taught privately.”

What is not mentioned in reminiscences or in documents is the many compositions and songs that J.F. wrote (just the music – not the words). These were published for voice, or piano or both, and usually in collaboration with the poet/publisher John Imrie.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Materials were donated to the University of Toronto Music Library by Mary F. Williamson, great-granddaughter to John Francis Johnstone, in 2016.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Collection consists of reference materials relating to John Francis Johnstone's compositions for voice and piano, his family, and the performance of his songs after his death.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Much of the material in this collection is copied or scanned and meant for reference purposes. The USB drive contains scans of sheet music by John Francis Johnstone; scans of photographs from the Johnstone family album (ca. 1900); scans of other photographs of Johnstone and related family documents (obituary, marriage banns, gravestone, divorce petition); and reference materials regarding the family, including a biography of Johnstone written by the donor, memoirs of Johnstone by his niece Marie, and a family tree of Johnstone's descendants. Items on the USB drive are available by request.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

OTUFM

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

Created September 4, 2019.

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

Related places