The young Thomas is later said by his obituarist to have received ‘his first instructions from Mr. Fisher, a drawing-master in Aldersgate-street’ (Gentleman’s Magazine, February 1803, p.187). The family has almost certainly moved to 46 St Martin’s-le-Grand, near Aldersgate Street, by this date (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.20). The diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) later noted that ‘Girtin’s mother kept a Turners Shop in or near Aldersgate St.’, though trade directories listed her as ‘R. Girtin brushmaker’ (Farington, Diary, 5 July 1803). Rosehanna Girtin will remarry to Thomas Vaughan (unknown dates), a pattern draughtsman, on 14 December 1799.