Colonel Sir Robert Arthur Johnson KCVO KBE (26 March 1874 – 2 March 1938) was a British civil servant who served as Deputy Master and Controller of the Royal Mint from 1922 to his death in 1938.

Early life, education and career

The son of the Reverend Arthur Johnson, historian and chaplain of All Souls College, Oxford (and FA Cup winner in 1874 with

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

), and his wife,

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

, Johnson was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and New College, Oxford, graduating with a first in History in 1897. He was

President of the Oxford Union Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...

. He joined the

Scottish Education Department The Scottish Government Education Directorates were a group of the civil service directorates in the Scottish Government. The Directorates were titled Children, Young People and Social Care; Schools; and Lifelong Learning. They were responsible ...

as a junior examiner and in 1910 transferred to

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

as Assistant Committee Clerk.

Military service

He was commissioned into the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

in 1889 and served with the 41st Squadron,

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. From 1907 to 1911 he was

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section dire ...

of the South Midland Infantry Brigade and from 1911 to 1919 he commanded the 9th (Cyclist) Battalion,

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regim ...

, which became the 1st/9th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment in 1915. He commanded the battalion in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and then in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, for which he was promoted

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, mentioned in dispatches and appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the Siberian War Honours of January 1920.

Post-war career and the Royal Mint

In 1919 he was called to the bar and returned to HM Customs and Excise as Committee Clerk, but was almost immediately transferred to

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

as a Principal and promoted Assistant Secretary in 1920. In 1922, he was appointed the post of Deputy Master of the Royal Mint. During his tenure, the Mint's export business improved considerably with Johnson's enthusiasm to fulfil orders from overseas creating a flourishing foreign coin production market which remains strong to this day. He also worked as a travelling salesman for the Mint for several years. On 17 June 1922, Johnson formally submitted a proposal to the King that a standing committee should be appointed to advise the Master of the Mint on all matters connected with the designing of coins and medals. Artists including

Percy Metcalfe Percy Metcalfe, CVO, RDI (14 January 1895 Wakefield – 9 October 1970 Fulham Hospital, Hammersmith, London), (often spelled ''Metcalf'' without "e") was an English artist, sculptor and designer. He is recognised mostly for his coin designs a ...

Humphrey Paget Thomas Humphrey Paget OBE (13 August 1893 – 30 April 1974) was an English medal and coin designer and modeller. Paget's designs are indicated by the initials 'HP'. Paget was first approached by the Royal Mint in 1936 after the accession of ...

and Langford Jones were encouraged by Johnson to visit the Mint to meet up with both officers and workmen in order to acquaint themselves with the processes with which their designs were transferred to metal. In a 1930 Royal Mint report Johnson was noted as being 'greatly impressed' with the pattern design of a proposed new obverse effigy of George V by medallist André Lavrillier designed to eliminate the 'ghosting' on pennies which had been a problem a few years earlier. The report highlights Johnson's admiration of Lavrillier’s artistic skill and his understanding of the technicalities in the process of die making, an understanding that was often lacking in his English counterparts. Lavrillier produced just four pattern 1933 pennies which were eventually rejected in favour of the original small head design on 1928 to 1932 bronze pennies. In 2016, a Lavrillier pattern penny sold at Baldwin's Auction House in London for £72,000. Only seven 'currency' 1933 pennies were struck, being placed under the foundations of various buildings, with penny production resuming in 1934. In 1935, the Royal Mint produced a version of the George V 'rocking horse'

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

coin dated 1935, with a stylised version of St George and the Dragon by Percy Metcalfe, struck in .916 gold. Only 28 were made and 25 issued. The Royal Mint received 1,329 applications for the coin. The 25 successful recipients received an accompanying letter from the Royal Mint enclosed with the gold crown dated 15 May 1935, informing the recipients of their success in the public ballot in obtaining a gold version of the Silver Jubilee Crown. Each of the 25 letters was hand signed by Johnson with his title, "Deputy Master and Controller of the Mint". Johnson was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1928 Birthday Honours and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1935.

Personal life and death

In 1903, he married Kathleen Eyre Greenwell, daughter of Sir Walpole Greenwell, Bt, with whom he had two daughters.Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 3 March 1938 Johnson died in 1938, aged 63.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Robert 1874 births 1938 deaths People from Oxford People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Presidents of the Oxford Union Civil servants in the Scottish Office Civil servants in HM Customs and Excise Civil servants in HM Treasury Royal Hampshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War English barristers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Imperial Yeomanry officers