Thomas Cooper Gotch was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 Pre-Raphaelite painter and book illustrator, and brother of John Alfred Gotch

John Alfred Gotch

John Alfred Gotch was a noted British architect and architectural historian. His brother was the Pre-Raphaelite painter and illustrator Thomas Cooper Gotch, who painted his portrait....

 the noted architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

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Thomas Gotch was born in 1854 in 13 Lower St, Kettering

Kettering

Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...

. He came from a middle-class business family who were also distinguished scholars and artists. His father, Thomas Henry Gotch (born 1805) was a shoe maker; his mother Mary Ann (born 1817 in London Ivy Lane) married Thomas Gotch in St Saviour's Church Southwark

Southwark Cathedral

Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....

 in 1847.