John Gregory Crace (designer)

John Gregory Crace (26 May 1809 – 13 August 1889) was an English interior decorator and author.

Early life and education

The Crace family had been prominent London interior decorators since Edward Crace (1725–1799), later keeper of the royal pictures to George III, established a business in 1768.cite web |title = Aldrich M. Crace family (per. c.1725–c.1900). In: "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (2004) |url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/67885 |publisher= Oxford University Press| accessdate = 2008-04-08] John Gregory Crace, Edward Crace's great-grandson, was the elder of two surviving sons of Frederick Crace (1779–1859), interior decorator to the then Prince Regent and a collector of maps and prints.cite web |title = Aldrich M. Crace, John Gregory (1809–1889). In: "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (2004) |url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50537 |publisher= Oxford University Press| accessdate = 2008-04-08] cite web |title = Baigent E. Crace, Frederick (1779–1859). In: "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (2004; 2006) |url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6556 |publisher= Oxford University Press| accessdate = 2008-04-08] His mother, Augusta Harrop Gregory, was the daughter of John Gregory, a London magistrate and treasurer of the Whig Club.

Born at 34 Curzon Street in London, Crace was educated at the schools of Dr Crombie in Greenwich and Mr Pollard in South Kensington.

Career

Crace commenced work as an assistant to his father in 1825, assisting on commissions from George IV on Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. In 1830, at the age of only twenty-one, he became a full partner in the family business (thereafter known as Frederick Crace & Son), on inheriting property and capital from his mother, who had died in 1827.

He visited the Continent several times between 1825 and 1830, including an extended study tour of France and Germany in 1829, and became influenced by 18th-century French decorative arts.cite web |title = Aldrich M, Allwood R. "Crace". In: "Grove Art Online: Oxford Art Online" |url = http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T020080pg3 |publisher= Oxford University Press| accessdate = 2008-04-09] He witnessed fighting in the streets of Paris during the July Revolution of 1830.

Personal life

On 26 January 1833, he married Sarah Jane Hine Langley (1815–1894), daughter of John Inwood Langley, a civil servant at the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich. The couple had twelve children, of whom eleven survived infancy. His eldest son, John Dibblee Crace (1838–1919), followed him into the family business, taking on the responsibility of managing the firm when Crace's health broke down in 1854–5; the two retained a close working relationship.cite web |title = Aldrich M. Crace, John Dibblee (1838–1919). In: "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (2004) |url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51463 |publisher= Oxford University Press| accessdate = 2008-04-08] Another son, Everard Crace, became a silk weaver.

References