"My Mother, who was born Grace Baldry, told me my Father, William Fiske, had straw strewn up and down the road to make the horse drawn carriages less noisy for my Mother, who was very ill - one cannot imagine what the noise is like from the present traffic.

My Mother was an artist, one of 13 children who lived in an old manor house in Norfolk and who, due to my Grandfather's leaning towards music rather than attaining a lucrative living, they were extremely poor. My Father, William Sanders Fiske, was the second son of Thomas and Elizabeth.

My Mother's Brother, Harry Baldry, whom I never met, was also an artist and I believe he has portraits at Windsor Castle.

He died of tuberculosis when quite young, but he and my Mother did go to Italy to paint and there she was greatly influenced by the Italian painters Titian and Tintoretto. I believe nearly all her family was either artistic or musical and she herself was a very clever portrait painter, particularly as she had never been able to afford lessons. She exhibited in the Royal Academy in London, and was "hung on the line" as they called the first row of pictures. She told me she met a Jewish lady who introduced her to many people for portraits and in this way she was able to do well painting people such as Lord Mayors English Cities.

Finally she was able to take herself and 2 sickly sisters over to Canada for them to be in a more suitable climate. She herself returned to England and must have married my Father shortly afterwards. Two less-alike characters would be hard to find, my father from a religious and very strict family and my Mother from a Bohemian upbringing in a talented artistic and musical family."

My husband’s great grandma was Ida Baldry (b1870) who was a sister to the artists Grace and Harry (who shot himself aged 24 in 1890 - see The Times Sept. 1 1890 pg 8 issue 33105). They, along with other siblings, were the children of George W Baldry (1835), also an artist and portrait painter. George was born in Norwich to William Baldry (b 1801 in Forncett, Norfolk), a surveyor and land agent, and Elizabeth Neave (?) (b1806 in Norwich). The daughters of William and Elizabeth were very musical and ran a music school in Norwich. George was married to Mary Ann Marshall (1837) a farmer’s daughter from Wiggenhall St Germans. He started as a surveyor but eventually took up painting., He and Mary moved quite frequently as their children were born in Norwich, Brighton, Ipswich, Hastings, St Germans, Newcastle upon Tyne and London - where they eventually settled.
I’ve searched through the Baldry Families on your site, but cannot find any connection to this branch - the only reference is to Grace and Harry on the info site. I hope this is of some interest and may lead to me finding out more about our ancestors.