I'm afraid much of this post is mystery and confusion. Let's
start with what seems firmly established.
Sophia was Johnson and Sarah's only daughter. I can't find a
birth certificate but in the 1841 Census she's listed as 15, the same age as
her brother Henry - John and Edmund are both given as 20, which suggests either
a busy reproductive schedule or an indifference to exactitude when giving the
ages of the children to the Census-taker.
In 1848 an entry in the register shows that Sophia married James Westrop of Lavenham, a small town close to Sophia's home village of Preston St Mary, with some of the best-preserved mediaeval buildings in the country:
The Old Wool Hall, Lavenham
"The Old Wool Hall - Lavenham - geograph.org.uk - 1546706" by Mick Lobb. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.
James was born
in 1810.[1]
Their daughter Ann was born in 1849 and died in the next year aged 8 months.
She was buried on May 11 at Preston St Mary.[2]
That's about it as far as clarity goes.
I suspect that Sophia died in the next 11 years. But when?
Well, I can't find any sign of her or James in the 1851 Census so there's no
clue there. In the 1861 Census a widower, James Westrop, born in Lavenham, is recorded
living St Pancras, London looked after by his unmarried sister Ann (his 'housekeeper').
This James is a retired draper. His age is transcribed (by Ancestry.com) as 50,
which ties in with the James who married Sophia - but it might as well be 60 -
the '0' is clear but not the first digit. This James died on May 1863 and probate for effects less
than £100 was granted to Ann.[3] One
genealogist on Ancestry.com merges this figure with a James Westrop who married
in St Dunstan in the West, London in 1836 - but
this James Westrop was born in Essex . On the other hand, the James born in Lavenham in 1810
doesn't seem to have a sister Anne. But then again I can't find any James born
in Lavenham who DID have a sister Ann.
To add to the confusion: in the 1891 Census the man who's called James Edgar in 1881 is called James Westrope (sic) Edgar. There were a lot
of Westrops in Suffolk ,
but James didn't marry one: in 1884 he united with Elvina Burrows.[4]
And probably irrelevantly a 'Sophia Edgar' aged 6 turns up in Johnson's household in 1861. She's listed as 'granddaughter' and her birth was registered in 1855 in Thingoe (Bury St Edmunds, where Richard was malting). Her father is unknown, but perhaps she was named in honour of a dead sister?
At this point the researcher throws his hands in the air and hopes for a lucky break in the future.
[1] http://historyofsuffolk.co.uk/cosford/lavenham/d295.html#P10006
[2] http://historyofsuffolk.co.uk/cosford/preston/d54.html
[3] Ancestry.com. England & Wales , National Probate Calendar
(Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966[database on-line]. Provo , UT ,
USA
[4] FreeBMD. England & Wales , FreeBMD Marriage Index,
1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo ,
UT , USA
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