Person    | Male  Born 2/6/1715  Died 28/12/1803

William Shipley

Categories: Art, Science

Drawing master, social reformer and inventor. Wikipedia's page differs significantly from the Oxford Dictionary of National Bigraphy. They agree that he was born in Kent and trained as a painter. He was in Northampton c.1747 -51, where he was active in the Northampton Philosophical Society.  He set up a very successful drawing school near Fountain Court 1754 - 61. From this activity grew the idea of a Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, founded by Shipley in 1754, with support from Lord Romney (1712–1794), which later became the Royal Society of Arts.

Shipley held posts in the Society until 1760 after which he remained an active member. Married in 1767 and retired to Maidstone the following year, but still frequently attended meetings in London and received recognition for a number of inventions (including a method to damp-proof shoes with tin foil). In Maidstone, again with support from Lord Romney, whose country seat was there, founded a local institution, similar to the London society. 1791 he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London but he resigned in 1796  'having scarce been in London since that time".

Born and died Maidstone, Kent. No date of birth is known so we have given the date of baptism instead.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Shipley

Commemorated ati

William Shipley

This plaque commemorates the tercentenary of Shipley's birth and the site of ...

Read More

Other Subjects

James McNeill Whistler

James McNeill Whistler

Painter and printmaker, born in Worthen Street, Lowell, Massachussetts. His family moved to Russia in 1843 and he received his first formal art instruction at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, St ...

Person, Art, Seriously Famous, Russia, USA

3 memorials
James Pryde

James Pryde

James Ferrier "Jimmy" Pryde. Born Edinburgh. Came to London in 1890. In 1893 he married Marian Symons and his sister Mabel married William Nicholson. That year also the Beggarstaffs began their par...

Person, Art, Scotland

1 memorial
John Tallis

John Tallis

Cartographic publisher. He set up as a publisher with Frederick Tallis in Cripplegate in 1842, moving to Smithfield in 1846. The company published views of London and world atlases. He started 'The...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Society of British Artists

Society of British Artists

The following text was copied from the picture source website: The Royal Society of British Artists was established in 1823 by a small group of artists who wished to form an alternative to the Roy...

Group, Art

2 memorials
Gunter Demnig

Gunter Demnig

Born Berlin. From Stolpersteine: The artist Gunter Demnig remembers the victims of National Socialism by installing commemorative brass plaques in the pavement in front of their last address of ch...

Person, Art, Germany

1 memorial