18th C
When James Boswell, newly married, was accosted by pretty women in The Strand in London he indulged hmself to the point of paying to "interview" several in order to satisfy his curiosity, as he put it, while managing technically to remain faithful to his young wife.
Some years after her father's death, his daughter Margaret admitted that her father often "exceeded the bounds of temperance" a habit which badly affected his health, sometimes to the point where he was unable to work for a week afterwards. He readily admitted to a friend that he led a dissolute life.
According to Thickness the painter had a total disregard for money and spent freely, to the utter despair of Margaret who, as we know, kept a close eye on all expenditure, not only regarding the household but whenever possible on her husband's business affairs as well. At times Gainsborough was embarrassed to admit that he could not send his sister, Mary Gibbon, money he owed her because he had received nothing in private, meaning funds unknown to Margaret.
On one occasion Margaret and her daughters travelled by their own coach from London to visit friends in Ipswich, leaving Gainsborough in London. In a letter to Mary Gibbon he made the point that his wife unexpectedly changed her mind about the length of the visit and wrote requiring him to meet them and escort them back to London some days earlier than planned. Gainsborough confessed to his sister that he guessed the real reason for this earlier return was because his wife was unable to trust him when left to live alone in the great city with all its temptations.
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LIVING WITH MRS THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH IN THE CIRCUS, BATH, 18TH /21ST C By VIVIENNE RAE-ELLIS The following is a work in progress, to be published here in instalments. The manuscript has not been submitted to any publisher. References and bibliography will be published following the final chapter. 1) go to the Manuscript below right.. 2) Start from the top entry.. 3) Read down through the manuscript
The Circus
About Me
- Vivienne Rae-Ellis FRGS
- I am an ex-pat Tasmanian author who has lived in England since 1987. I have had eleven books published in seventeen editions by publishers who include Faber&Faber, Heinemann, Hamish Hamilton, Robert Hale, University Of Melbourne, University of Yale, Angus Robertson and the Australian Institute Of Aboriginal Studies. Subjects include biographies of three famous Australians: Trucanini, the last Aboriginal Tasmanian to live and die on the island; Louisa Anne Meredith, Australia's first resident female author, and George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector of the Aborigines in the 1830's. Published work includes books for adults and for children based on the history of Australia; the paranormal;and Public Libraries.
