SP 30-31 Aug 2008:

Isaiah Robert Johnson is proving a little elusive.

His name, and occupation of tailor, comes from the 1892 marriage certificate of Isaiah Robert Johnson (his son) and Caroline Frances Palmer.

In 1861, his wife and son (who shares his name) are in the Havant Union Workhouse. Agnes is listed as married (so presumably he is still alive).

The connection to the Isaiah Johnson in Derbyshire (in the 1851 census) might seem a bit of a leap. But there are few Isaiah Johnsons around, and this one happens to be an apprentice tailor. The confirmation comes from a family bible, now in the possession of Nigel Davies, which was originally presented to Samuel and Annie Johnson in Derbyshire in 1875, and later passed to Samuel's nephew, Isaiah Robert Johnson (i.e. the son of Samuel's brother of the same name).

In the 1841 census for Castle Donington on ancestry.com, Isaiah Johnson's name is incorrectly indexed as Sarah.

There is a marriage recorded in the GRO indices for Jonah Johnson (1858 Sep Portsea 2b 572) on the same page as Agnes Holland. I think it likely that this will prove to be the right marriage, but where the "Jonah" came from is a bit of a puzzle.