Text-only pages from Gainsborough's House
1727 Baptised on 14 May at the Independent Meeting House in Friars Street, Sudbury,
Suffolk, the fifth son of John Gainsborough, a clothier, and Mary Burroughs.
c. 1740 Sent to London and was taught by Hubert Francois Gravelot, a French
draughtsman and engraver.
1746 Married Margaret Burr on 15 July at Dr. Keith's Mayfair Chapel, London and
settled in Hatton Garden, Margaret Burr had an annuity of £200.
1749 Returned to Sudbury and lived in Friars Street
1750 Birth of his eldest surviving daughter, Mary.
1751 Birth of his youngest daughter, Margaret. Moved to Foundation Street, Ipswich.
1758 Travelled to Bath
1759 Moved with his family to Bath where he rented a large house in Abbey Street
1760 Exhibited at the first Society of Artist's exhibition in London.
1766 Moved to a new house in The Circus in Bath.
1768 Accepted an invitation to become a founder member of the Royal Academy of
which Sir Joshua Reynolds was the first President.
1869 Exhibited in the first Royal Academy exhibition.
1772 Took as an apprentice is nephew, Gainsborough Dupont (1754 - 97).
1773 Quarrelled with the Royal Academy over the hanging of his pictures. He did not
contribute to the Academy again until 1777.
1774 Moved to London where he rented the west wing of Schomberg House in Pall Mall.
c. 1782 Made a tour of the West Country with Gainsborough Dupont.
1783 Made a tour of the Lake District with his Ipswich friend, Samuel Kilderbee.
1784 Quarrelled again over the hanging of his paintings at the Royal Academy and
withdrew his pictures from the exhibition. He began to have annual exhibitions of his work
in his own studio.
1788 Died on 2 August in London. Buried in Kew Churchyard.
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Gainsborough's House, 46 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, Suffolk, UK.
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