When Catherine Elizabeth Hayward was born on 18 August 1865, in Wokalup, Western Australia, Australia, her father, Thomas Hayward, was 32 and her mother, Catherine Logue, was 37. She married John Forster Johnston on 13 January 1886, in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia. They were the parents of at least 8 sons and 4 daughters. She died on 28 March 1942, at the age of 76, and was buried in Picton Junction, Western Australia, Australia.