John Gainsborough

The Gainsboroughs were a Suffolk family of clothiers and John Gainsborough ( c. 1683- 1748), the artist’s father, was a cloth merchant and innkeeper. He married Mary Burrough in 1704 and they had at least nine children, the youngest of whom was Thomas. The artist’s parents had moved to a house in Sepulchre Street (now 46 Gainsborough Street) probably in 1722 and Thomas was born there a few years later. It is now known as Gainsborough’s House, the birthplace museum of the artist. In the early eighteenth century, Sudbury was a small but well-populated market town. The family house was at its heart, just off the Market Hill and John Gainsborough added a handsome brick façade to create an imposing town- house. Perhaps he overstretched himself for he was declared bankrupt in 1733. The property was bought for £500 in 1735 by his nephew, also John Gainsborough (1711-72), who allowed the artist’s family to remain there and thus alleviate their financial worries. Thomas’s father became the Sudbury postmaster until his death in October 1748.