The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

PAINTER family, printers at Wrexham . The Wrexham printing and publishing business of Marsh (see Marsh, Richard) was bought in at the end of 1795 by JOHN PAINTER. He m., 3 Oct. 1798, Catherine, daughter of Hugh Burton, Wrexham. John Painter was succeeded by his son, also JOHN PAINTER, who was killed by a fall from his horse, 15 Oct. 1833, aged 32; John Painter, junior, was succeeded by his brother, THOMAS PAINTER, who sold the business to Railton Potter in 1855. Thomas Painter d. 16 Jan. 1889, aged 82.

The three Painters were skilled printers. It was the father who printed Philip Yorke's Royal Tribes of Wales, 1799, and Edward Edwards's edition of Browne Willis, Survey of the Cathedral Church of St. Asaph, 1801. The largest work undertaken in the office was John Humphreys's translation, published 1813, of Samuel Clark's Family Bible. Further personal details concerning Thomas Painter are given by Ifano Jones in his History of Printing and Printers in Wales; e.g. Thomas Painter was mayor of Wrexham in 1859, and he was also a director of some local companies.

Bibliography:

The principal source has been named in the text.

Author:

Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952), Aberystwyth