English author, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and lexicographer. Born in Lichfield, his connection with Scotland was through his travels with his friend James Boswell (1740-95), which were published in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775). Along the way, the literary friends passed through, and commented on, a large number of places. Johnson had a reputation for strong views and pomposity, such that his comments were sometimes quite cutting. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Boswell published his two-volume biography The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D in 1791. In 2009, Johnston featured on a postage stamp, one of ten featuring eminent Britons, commemorating the tricentenary of his birth.