Edwin Arthur Johnson was born in Leicestershire, England in 1855 and was articled to Thomas Barnard in Leicester from 1870 to 1874. He also attended Leicester School of Art. He worked as an assistant to Charles Taylor (?-1919) in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in 1877, John Berney and Charles Albert Monday (1843-1910) in Croydon, Surrey in 1878, John William Alexander in Stockton-on-Tees, and then with Charles Taylor again. He commenced independent practice as an architect in Abergavenny, Wales in 1880. By 1901 he was in practice in Merthyr Tydfil was he was senior partner in the firm Johnson & Richards. The other partner was probably Edwin William Gruffydd Richards (1880-1930).
Johnson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1899. He died in Abergavenny, Wales on 27 August 1914.
Merthyr Town Hall; Merthyr Workhouse Infirmary; Pariah Church, Dowlais, Monmouthshire; County Asylum (additions and reconstruction); King Henry VII. Grammar School, Abergavenny; Girls' County School. Cottage Hospital, new General Post Office, United Counties Bank, Holy Trinity Church, "The Hill" mansion), and Merthyr Free Libraries
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Who's Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914