FOR years, the blue plaque on the front of a property in Friars Street, Sudbury, has proudly informed passers-by that celebrated artist Thomas Gainsborough lived there from 1749 to 1752.

But now a respected local historian has sown a seed of doubt on this assertion.

Chairman of the Sudbury History Society, Barry Wall, has been researching the history of buildings on Friars Street for a series of lectures he is currently giving, called The Streets of Sudbury, and he is convinced the town’s most famous son did not make his home there.

“We’ve looked at deeds, rate books and rental agreements and we can find no evidence he lived at that address,” said Mr Wall, a Gainsborough enthusiast who believes the exact location of the famous painter’s home has importance beyond the tourist trail.

He said: “Thomas Gainsborough’s stay in Sudbury coincided with an extraordinary explosion in beautiful landscape paintings such as the view to Cornard Wood and Mr and Mrs Andrews, arguably the most iconic painting of the English countryside ever produced.

“If you find out where he painted these, you have located one of most famous rooms in the history of European art.”

Mr Wall’s theory is that Gainsborough, who had seen his baby daughter, Margaret, and his father die in successive years had moved in with his cousin John, whose father, also called Thomas, had years before paid for the young artist to go to London to learn his trade.

“That would explain the lack of documentation,” said Mr Wall.

As for location, Mr Wall’s research has led him to a well-known Sudbury property called the Red House, located behind 31a on a footpath called Bullocks Lane. But having studied the deeds for the Red House, now a retirement home, the documents are missing for the crucial period up to 1752.

“I can tell you where Gainsborough did not live but as yet not where he did,” added Mr Wall, who wants to hear from anyone who may have documents to move his research forward.

Mr Wall’s historical quest has been welcomed by the man who originally erected the blue plaque, Tony Wheeler from the Sudbury Freeman Trust, who said the sign was one of 14 placed on buildings around the town in the early 1990s. The property in Friars Street is now home to Thorntons chartered surveyors and estate agents.

Mr Wheeler said: “I respect his [Mr Wall’s] opinion as a reputable historian but at the time it was commonly thought Gainsborough had lived there.” World authority on Gainsborough and former curator at Gainsborough House museum, Hugh Belsey, said he could not shed any more light on the mystery.

He added: “Without any more documentation it’s difficult to say one way or the other. It just goes to show how difficult the history of 18th Century art can be.”

If you have any information that would be of interest to Barry Wall contact him on 01787 227029.