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Thomas Barker - His childhood

Thomas Barker was the eldest son of Benjamin and Anne. He was born in Trosnant, then a bustling industrial and residential area of Pontypool, in May 1767. Thomas was a sickly baby and it was thought it wise for his immediate baptism by a passing Catholic priest. However, he survived to be formally christened in the Anglican rite the following month in Panteg Church. This proved a memorable event, for his godfather, a local eccentric nicknamed Mad Tom, entered the church on horseback carrying the infant Thomas before him.

Artistic talent was evident from an early age, and Thomas surprised his father by making figures from the red clay of the banks of a local stream. Success as an artist is dependent, quite apart from ability, upon fashion, sponsorship and a sympathetic environment. All three requirements were found by Thomas soon after the family moved across the Bristol Channel to the elegant and gracious city of Bath, which since the time of Queen Anne had been a centre of fashionable society. The sponsorship came from Charles Spackman, a well-to-do coach builder and connoisseur, who saw the lad's sketches of horses in the window of the Barkers' cottage and resolved to encourage the development of Thomas' natural talent. He sent him to the Shepton Mallet Grammar School, one of the leading educational establishments in the West Country, and came to treat the teenager as a son.

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