On Wednesday's episode of The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn, BBC expert Lucia Scalisi was tasked with restoring a family portrait belonging to Anne Thomas in Taunton. During a cutaway scene, Anne shared the story behind the heirloom and the history of the man depicted in it.
The painting shows Anne's great-great-grandfather, John Durdin, and was created by William J. Thomas, a well-known artist of that era. Although Anne admitted she didn't pay much attention to the painting growing up, she recently discovered her ancestor was a banker's clerk.
A Family Secret Revealed
Anne told viewers that John falsified his accounts in the ledgers he was responsible for, meaning he stole from the bank for a decade. His family moved into a nice house and wore fine clothes, but he went to work in old clothes to avoid revealing his financial crimes.
Anne explained that one day John became 'dramatically ill' and suffered a stroke, leaving him paralysed down his left side. She added: "It made it impossible for him to go to work, he was bedridden and that's when everything came to light."
Consequences and Confession
In the end, John owed the bank around £70,000, which in today's climate would equate to roughly £10 million. The amount was so large it forced the bank to shut down, as it was unable to continue trading.
John was sent to prison for 14 years with hard labour. He emerged a 'broken man' and died two years later. Calling the painting 'remarkable', Anne shared that it had been passed down over the years but had taken 'a bit of a beating'. She added: "It had suffered some damage to the paint. Everything looked like it might not survive much longer. I, rather foolishly, got my paints out and covered up some of the gaps. I'm not very proud about that."
Expert's Concern
While inspecting the portrait, Lucia noticed Anne's cover-up, which she told viewers had been done with watercolour but had smeared the edges onto the original paintwork. The BBC expert added: "I'm more concerned about, having looked closely at this, I can see here there are areas of retouching that are much earlier than Anne."
Lucia explained it was 'a little bit worrying' that someone had tried to fix the painting before Anne. The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
