John the Artist

When the enumerator arrived at the doorstep on 6^th June 1841 it must have come as something of a surprise to John. Forgetting it was census night, he had taken the family over to the home of Elizabeth Mitcham on Unicorn Hill for the evening. Along with eight thousand or so other people in the village of Redditch, Elizabeth was a needle-maker. In fact the village was famous throughout the country for the manufacture of needles and fish hooks. John enjoyed a much less mundane occupation. He was an artist. John’s house and studio was on nearby Fish Hill. He lived there with his wife Mary Ann and their two children Matthew and Dominick.

John had been with his Irish wife Mary Ann (or Marian) for thirteen years. The couple were married at the parish church of St Alkmund in the village of Duffield near Derby on 23rd November 1828. John Evans Hand was originally from Dudley in Worcestershire, but the most credible record of his baptism is from the Mares Green Independent Chapel in nearby West Bromwich dated 3rd June 1804. This states that he was born on 22nd April 1804 and that his parents were John and Sarah Hand. It is possible that his parents were subsequently married in Birmingham just under a month later as it is recorded that a John Hand married a Sarah Evans at St Martins close to the city's famous Bull Ring on 1st July 1804.

Just under two years into his marriage, John's name appeared in the Derby Mercury. The edition dated 24th February 1830 states:

 We don't know whether he ever got his bag and watercolour paints back but what we do know is that shortly afterwards his son, Matthew Samuel Hand, was born. Another son, Dominick, arrived four years later, but by then the family had moved back to a city which may have been familiar to him from his childhood - Birmingham. Wrightsons directory for 1839 shows John Hand, a portrait painter, residing at 9 Marshall Street, but for some reason the family felt compelled to move to Redditch by the time of the 1841 census.

Portrait painting was the early Victorian equivalent to having your photograph taken at a studio and may have helped keep food on the table when his other art commissions dried up. Moving regularly may have helped John escape his creditors when he fell on hard times. 

Their third son, Peter, was born at the parish workhouse in the nearby village of Tardebigg on 22^nd February 1842. In the days before the National Health Service, it was common for women to give birth in the workhouse, particularly if the birth was difficult and it wasn't necessarily an indicator of poverty.  

By 1846, John and his family had returned to Birmingham and their fourth child, Mary Ann,  was born on 7^th January.  At the time, the family were residing at 24 Lower Hurst Street. Mary Ann was baptised at St Peter's RC chapel off Broad Street on 1st February 1846.  The chapel was demolished in 1969 and the site now lies below the International Convention Centre. That same year, John was fortunate enough to have a piece of artwork exhibited at the Birmingham Society of Artists in Temple Row. His painting, entitled "Portrait of a Gentleman" was displayed in the vestibule:

On the back of this success, the family’s financial situation was evidently on a more stable footing by the late 1840s. Indeed, the local directories for 1849 and 1850 show that he was still at 24 Lower Hurst Street. John and Mary Ann's 5th and final child, a daughter named Elizabeth, was born on 3rd July 1849. Like her elder sister, Elizabeth was baptised at the St Peters RC chapel on 22nd July 1849. 

One explanation for the improvement of John’s financial affairs is that Birmingham had become a boom town. The industrial revolution had resulted in Birmingham becoming one of the leading manufacturing centres in the country. A new middle class was emerging and these people could afford to spend money having their portrait painted. The wealthiest people, the factory owners and rich merchants, financed the art world and as a result there was a growing artist community in the town. Another factor that could explain the improvement in the family’s financial position is that John’s two eldest sons were now old enough to work and contribute to the family’s income.

There was a darker side to life in Victorian Birmingham. The cramped and unsanitary conditions in the more working class neighbourhoods lead to an outbreak of cholera in 1849 which claimed many lives. In the following year Birmingham was the scene of anti-catholic rioting when the Pope reinstated the Roman Catholic religious hierarchy in England by making Cardinal Wiseman the head of the church in England.

By the time of the 1851 census John and his family had moved to 24 Broom Street in the Bordesley area of Birmingham. Matthew was working as a ‘house painter’ and Dominick was employed as a ’rule maker’. Both Peter and Mary Ann were attending school.

In the summer of 1852, John’s son, Matthew, got married Sarah Gawthorp. Sarah was from Southwark in Surrey. Two years later, his other son, Dominic, married her sister Nancy. Following their weddings the sons and their wives probably lived under the same roof as John, however once they started having children of their own the house must have become overcrowded. The lack of space prompted Matthew and Dominic to move south to Southwark with their wives and families to begin a new life by around 1857.

Shortly after the departure of his two eldest sons, John and the remaining members of his family started a new life of their own in Lancashire. According to the 1861 census they were living at 2 River Place, Salford. John was still working as an artist, his wife Mary Ann was employed as a dress and mantle maker and Peter was working as a stone carver. Elizabeth was at school but John’s daughter Mary Ann was not at home. She was in fact working as a domestic servant at the Cross Keys, a local public house, on that particular evening.

Why did they move again? The following scenario may have been a factor: from the 1850s onwards photography was developing and becoming more widely available. Photographic studios were opening and people chose to have portrait photographs produced rather than a portrait painted. This would have been bad news unless John could adapt his skills. In addition, the departure of his two eldest bread-winning sons John’s financial situation probably took a turn for the worse. Secondly, the art scene in Manchester was growing. On 5^th May 1857 a fine art exhibition opened in a specially commissioned wrought iron building in Old Trafford. The exhibition was financed by local manufacturers and businessmen.

In the end, the move north did nothing to ease John’s financial concerns in the long term and it seems he moved down to London in 1861/62. With little or no money, the most likely scenario is that he either moved in with Matthew or Dominic, or perhaps they lodged in cheap rented accommodation nearby. What we do know is that by April/May 1862 John had fallen seriously ill. His illness probably started with a fever and body aches. This was followed by a rash several days later. At this point he would have been admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital and in the days that followed his condition deteriorated with the onset of pneumonia and kidney failure. He died in hospital on 15^th May 1862.

The cause of his death was Typhus fever. Typhus fever was not uncommon and epidemics occurred throughout the 19^th century. The disease was transmitted by body lice, which were widespread in the cramped working class housing of the day. John probably contracted the disease after being bitten. It was a tragic end for a creative man whose life had been afflicted by financial uncertainty. His legacy would have been the paintings he produced. Sadly none of these are known to have survived.