Conversation Piece

A Short History:

William Hogarth was born on the 10th.November,1697 in the house of his maternal grandparents in Bartholomew Close,near the church of St.Bartholomew the Great.
His father Richard came from the North of England to London around 1680 and in 1690 married Anne Gibbons,the daughter of his landlord. Richard was a schoolmaster and a classical scholar,although poorly paid. To supplement his earnings Richard opened a Coffee House at St. John's Gate. Unfortunately, in 1708 the venture failed and he was confined to the Fleet Prison for debt. Richard died in 1718 and William Hogarth felt his father's business failure, and the experience of his time spent in prison ,for a total of four years,had hastened his father's death. William resolved not to fall into the same predicament of his father. In 1713-14 William Hogarth started his apprenticeship as a Printer. Following this he worked for six years developing the various techniques involved in printing. In 1720 William set up his own business in Printing and Engraving. In 1729 at the Old Paddington Church ,Paddington Green William married Jane Thornhill settling initially in Covent Garden but later moved to Chiswick.