John Gully

Who was John Gully?

John Gully was a prominent New Zealand landscape painter.

He was born in Bath, and was the son of Philip Gully, a porter, and Mary Vincent. Gully's formal education finished when he was apprenticed to Stothert's foundry aged around 13. He worked in the designing and drafting department. He received some training in painting from a Bristol watercolourist, W. J. Muller. Having finished his apprenticeship, he got a job as a clerk in the Bath Savings Bank, then later joined his father's business in that city. He was probably already painting as a pastime, and—apart from a few private lessons—received no formal art training.

Gully was a man of medium height with a broad brow and receding forehead, brown eyes, dark hair and whiskers. He was modest and genial.

On 22 July 1846 John Gully married Jane Moore, a young widow with a baby son and the daughter of John Eyles. They went on to have six children, two of whom died in childhood.

In 1852 Jane and John decided to emigrate with their family of three children to New Zealand. John Gully was influenced by his reading of Hursthouse's glowing account of New Zealand titled Account of the Settlement of New Plymouth.