Thomas Grainger was a British landscape painter known predominantly for his watercolour sketches depicting views in County Durham.
Born the son of a joiner/undertaker, young Thomas was schooled in the family trade. As the eldest boy, there was an expectation that he’d pursue the same career, picking up where his father left off. Indeed, every census throughout Grainger’s life records his occupation as carpentry-related. However, his passion was for painting - capturing the world as he saw it, with pencil, sketchbook and watercolours.
His works are abundant with charm, with every branch, doorway, and roof tile carefully observed. They tend to include figures going about their lives, caught in perpetuity - farmers guide ploughs through rutted earth, mothers carry groceries along dusty village walkways. He created a window through which we glimpse at a simpler time - a slower pace of life.
But in addition to the picturesque, his works also serve as topographical references to a landscape as it was. In 1902, he produced a sketch of the Seaton Carew Lighthouse, which was demolished the same year.
Grainger’s aspirations as an artist were never destined to become a full-time profession and he struggled with financial commitments. Despite winning several local awards, he often gave his paintings to family members, cramming his sister’s hallway with 56 works. Well into his 70s, he was still sketching.
Thomas Grainger trained at the West Hartlepool School of Art and he’s represented at Hartlepool Arts and Museums.
Exhibited
West Hartlepool School of Art, Hartlepool Floral and Horticultural Society, Hartlepool Sketching Club.
Represented
Hartlepool Arts and Museums.
Timeline
1849
Born in Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire, to George Grainger, a joiner, and Isabella Grainger.
1851
Lived in Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire, with his parents, brother, and a servant.
1861
Lived in Stranton, Hartlepool, with his parents and siblings.
1871
Lived in St Andrew The Less in Cambridge with the Barton family (uncle, aunt and cousins). Occupation recorded as ‘Joiner’.
C. 1878-1883
Studied at the West Hartlepool School of Art.
1879
Shown in the Assembly Room, Hartlepool. Various studies in oil.
1881
Lived in Stranton, Hartlepool, with his parents and siblings. Occupation recorded as ‘Joiner and Undertaker’. His father was working in the same profession.
1888
Married Elizabeth Brass (nee Coath) in Stranton, Hartlepool.
1891
Awarded two prizes by the Hartlepool Floral and Horticultural Society for ‘Painting in Oil’ and ‘Drawing (Sepia or Chalk)’.
1892
Awarded a prize by the Hartlepool Floral and Horticultural Society for ‘Painting in Oil’.
1898
Mentioned in the ‘Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail’ following an exhibition by the Hartlepool Sketching Club.
“T. Grainger contributes several pieces of work of undoubted merit, his drawing of ‘Gunners' Pool’ in Castle Eden Dene being one of the best in the collection. The same artist in his view of Wynyard Hall, and ‘The Water Mill, near Cotherstone,’ has made a distinct reputation for himself.”
1901
Lived in West Hartlepool with his wife, sisters, son, daughter, step-children, servant and two boarders. Occupation recorded as ‘Joiner and Undertaker’.
1911
Lived alone in West Hartlepool. Occupation recorded as ‘House Joiner & Repairer’.
1921
Lived in West Hartlepool with his sister. Occupation recorded as ‘Joiner’.
Death of son, Thomas Grainger.
1930
Died in West Hartlepool.