Swaffham Newsletter

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Howard Carter snippets no.2 /10
The Parents
Samuel John (1835–1892) was a well- known
Victorian animal portrait painter. He spent his
childhood with his three brothers and two sisters
at Keeper’s Cottage. it is said that he was tutored
in art at a drawing class in Swaffham but we don’t
know where the children went to school. As an
adult he exhibited at The Royal Academy.
He married Martha Joyce Sands (1837 – 1920)
whose family home was on Lynn Street. Her father
was a builder and carpenter.
The couple’s first child, Morris Samuel, was born
and baptised in Swaffham and was buried in the
churchyard less than two years later. Shortly
afterwards, before 1861, they moved to London.
Samuel John was a prolific and popular painter of
animals, tame and wild. For many years he was also
the agricultural illustrator for The Illustrated News
in London.
The family would spend extended holidays in
Swaffham at the Sporle Road House.
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