Gunby, Francis (1600-1656)
Gunby, Francis
Briggate, Leeds, Yorkshire; joiner (fl.1600-d.1656)
It is thought that the Gunby family were established in Leeds by the late 16th century. Two marriages of Mary Gunby and Elizabeth Gunby were recorded in Leeds’ parish registers in 1602 and 1607.
Francis Gunby’s first known work was to carve the moulds for plasterwork executed by his brother Thomas at Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire between 1600 and 1605. One of his most important early patrons was Sir Arthur Ingram, for whom Gunby worked at Sheriff Hutton Hall (completed 1622) and Temple Newsam (1626-29), where he was engaged to supply panelling and other woodwork. At this time Gunby was almost certainly living at Temple Newsam since a covenant of 18 February 1628/9 described him as ‘Francis Gunby of Temple Newsam, joiner’.
In 1633, while living at Temple Newsam, Gunby married Ann Powell of nearby Whitkirk and shortly afterwards moved to Briggate in Leeds. Two children are recorded: Francis (baptised 14 September 1636) and Ann (baptised 19 September 1638). It is possible that Gunby shared his house with his brother Thomas, and some care is needed to distinguish them from other branches of the Gunby family; another Francis Gunby was resident in Headrow and/or Kirkgate and Nicholas Gunby lived in the Market Place, which was an extension of Briggate.
Gunby’s best known commission is the joinery for St John the Evangelist Church, Leeds, built between 1631 and 1634. Despite 19th century ‘restoration’ Gunby’s interior is remarkably intact and is the best-preserved example of its kind in Yorkshire. The design and decoration own much to printed sources in Continental mannerist pattern books.
On the strength of his work at St John’s, Gunby was commissioned to supply joinery to Wakefield parish church (now cathedral) where his chancel screen survives. Earlier, in 1632, Gunby had made a new pulpit for the Archbishop of York’s private chapel in Bishopthorpe Palace. This was removed to Rotherfield, East Sussex, in 1896, where it still stands in the parish church.
Much of the high quality early 17th century domestic joinery in Leeds, now mostly lost, has been attributed to Gunby on stylistic grounds (Brears, Regional Furniture, 2019), as has joinery in outlying houses such as East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley. In addition, Gunby has been proposed as the maker of high quality joined chairs and other furniture attributed to the Leeds area, although none is documented.
Francis Gunby died in 1656 and was buried on 11 April in Leeds Parish Church. He was succeeded by his son Francis, who in July 1659 was indicted for theft and (probably) transported to Virginia. A Francis Gunby died there in Accomac, Charles County, on 23 November 1694.
Sources: Brears, ‘Leeds and West Yorkshire Carved Oak Furniture of the Seventeenth Century’, Regional Furniture (2019), pp. 1-90.
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