FENN, John
John Fenn of Culford, Suffolk, ‘Mr Fenn, the paynter’, was paid for three civic portraits for Bury St Edmund's in 1616. John Fenn was closely associated with the Bacon family of Culford in Suffolk and seems to have acted as steward or clerk to the talented amateur artist, Sir Nathaniel Bacon. He described himself as ‘John Fenn of Culford’ in his will, made 24 June 1653 and proved 26 September 1653 when he bequeathed his pocket watch to ‘Jane Lady Bacon of Culford my Lady and Mistress’ with the rest of his estate going to his brother and executor Edward Fenn. An occasional colour maker, Fenn also ground colours both for Bacon and for his Suffolk neighbour the Revd John Cradock, father of the artist, Mary Beale.