Author: Groombridge, William
Biography:
GROOMBRIDGE, William (1750-1811: ancestry.co.uk)
His birth year is usually given as 1748 but he was the William Groombridge, son of Henry and Philadelphia Groombridge, who was baptised on 12 Dec. 1750 at Tonbridge, Kent, and it is likely he was born in the same year. His identity is confirmed by Henry’s will, proved on 25 June 1799; it mentions both William and his wife. He was taught to paint by the landscape artist James Lambert of Lewes, Sussex. Groombridge worked with both oils and watercolour and he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London from 1770-1790. He may have married in London but no records have been located. When he married Catherine Hays in Canterbury Cathedral on 5 Oct. 1789 he was identified as a widower. His one book of verse, Sonnets, was published in the same year. One of the poems, “Sonnet IV,” refers to having been brought up by his godfather in Wateringbury, Kent. William and Catherine emigrated to America probably in 1794 and settled in Philadelphia PA where Catherine operated a successful girls’ school. Groombridge was one of a group of artists who established the Columbanium Academy in Philadelphia in 1794. It was the first art academy established in America but it failed after a year because of a dispute over how it should be organised; Groombridge was head of a faction that wanted to model the academy after the Royal Academy in London with the president, George Washington, as honorary patron. Groombridge did exhibit paintings in America but financial success eluded him and the couple were dependent on Catherine’s school, the Columbia Academy. They likely moved to New York in about 1801-04 but newspaper advertisements indicate that they were in Baltimore MD by Oct. 1804. There Catherine operated her boarding school at 16 Calvert Street. Groombridge was befriended in Baltimore by Eliza Anderson, publisher and editor of the Baltimore Observer. He died on 24 May 1811 at 16 Calvert Street. (ODNB 2 Oct. 2024; ancestry.co.uk 2 Oct. 2024; findmypast.co.uk 2 Oct. 2024; Grove Encyclopedia of American Art [2011]; Philadelphia Gazette 11 Sept. 1799; Federal Gazette 27 May 1811)