Early and Private Life
John James Sainsbury was born on 12 June 1844 at 5 Oakley Street, Lambeth, to John Sainsbury (baptised 1809, d. 1863), ornament and picture frame maker, and his wife Elizabeth Sarah, née Coombes (1817–1902). During his childhood, his family moved house several times between rented rooms. The area in which they lived was close to the Thames wharves and to Waterloo station, which opened in 1848.
John James started work at the age of 14. He may have stayed at school beyond the normal leaving age of 10 or 11, possibly helping out as a "monitor". His first job was with a grocer in the New Cut, Lambeth.
In 1863, John James's father died and John James took on the additional responsibility of helping to support his mother and two sisters.
At the age of 24, he married Mary Ann Staples and they set up a dairy shop together at 173 Drury Lane, Holborn. The couple had probably saved a few pounds with which to buy shop equipment but their circumstances were extremely modest. They shared the cramped accommodation above the little shop with three other families.
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