Robert Johnson (c.1657-1730) was an English-born politician and judge in early eighteenth-century Ireland.[1] He sat in the Irish House of Commons and was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer. In the early 1700s, he was one of an inner circle of trusted advisors to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.[2]
He was born in England, the eldest son of Robert Johnson senior and grandson of Edward Johnson, Bencher of the Inner Temple. The Johnsons were related to the leading Minister Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington: the relationship was close enough for Arlington to further the Johnson family's interests. His father, who was also a barrister, came to Ireland after the Restoration of Charles II as secretary to Sir Edward Smith, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and had a successful career, despite his chronic ill-health. He sat briefly in the Irish House of Commons as member for Lisburn in the session of 1665-6 and was a justice of the Court of Common Pleas 1670–86.[3]