Stamford, Lincolnshire, England

photo from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:High_Street_St_Martin%27s,_Stamford.jpg

I have been told numerous times that I had to have Scandinavian blood in me because my last name was Johnson.  Well, I wasn't too sure about that because I have my Johnson's traced back to Stamford, Lincolnshire, England to the 1400's with Sir Ira Johnson.  Well, I had my DNA done by Ancestry.com and my ethnicity came back that I was more Scandinavian than I was English.  Now that was a surprise.  I started looking into my Johnson's and maybe they did come from Scandinavian originally.  I studied the town the they came from and this is what I found.  I want to visit this place.  It is a quaint town that has not changed much.

Excerpts from the book "The History of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln: Comprising Its Ancient, Progressive, and Modern State: with an Account of St. Martin's, Stamford Baron, and Great and Little Wothorpe, Northamptonshire"

"Stamford ... is entered on all sides except the east by a beautiful and gradual descent, and from the imposing appearance of its churches, has not infrequently been compared with a cathedral town... its healthy and pleasant situation, being surrounded by delightful woody hills, groves, and luxuriant pasturage, which form a variety of the most pleasing landscapes.  It is also benefited by a number of fine springs, and is seated at such a distance from the fens as to enjoy the advantage of their produce.
Stamford was reckoned one of the five great cities of the Danish Kingdom.  The Danes conquered these in 871... The inhabitants... were chiefly Danes, all the English among them being their servants, or such as had, by intermarriages, become Danes in interest and in religion, and in their social and political connections.

Further reading

William Page, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Lincoln. Victoria County History 2. pp. 234–235 'Hospitals: Stamford'.
William Page, ed. (1906). A History of the County of Lincoln. Victoria County History 2. pp. 225–230 'Friaries: Stamford'.
Rogers, Alan, ed. (1965). the Making of Stamford. Leicestershire University Press. This book consists of a series of lectures given in Stamford in 1961 to mark the Quincentenary of the borough's charter of incorporation. Among the subjects discussed are The Archaeology of the Stamford Region by Prof W F Grimes, The Danish Borough by H R Loyn, The Medieval Town by A Rogers etc.
Rogers, Alan (1983, 2001). the Book of Stamford. Barracuda Books 1983 edn.; Spiegl Press, Stamford 2001 edn.. ISBN 0-86023-123-2.
Thoresby Jones, Percy (1960). The Story of the Parish Churches of Stamford. British Publishing Co.
Drakard, John (1822). The History of Stamford, in the County of Lincoln: Comprising Its Ancient, Progressive, and Modern State: with an Account of St. Martin's, Stamford Baron, and Great and Little Wothorpe, Northamptonshire. Stamford: Drakard.
Thomas, Dr. D. L. (1982). "The Cecil Monopoly of Milling in Stamford 1561-1640". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Plowman, Aubrey (1980). "Stamford and the Plague, 1604". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Coles, Ken (February 1980). "Queen Eleanor's Cross". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Till, Dr E C. "St. Cuthbert's Fee in Stamford". The Stamford Historian (Stamford research group). Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Edwards, Samuel, ed. (1810). Extracts taken from Harod's history of Stamford: relating to the navigation of the River Welland from Stamford to the Sea. Stamford.