(1789 - 1862)
William Turner’s father died when he was an infant and in 1803 he went to live with a wealthy uncle at Shipton-on-Cherwell, Woodstock. He studied drawing under William Delamotte, before becoming a pupil of John Varley in London. Aged 18, he was elected the youngest ever member of the Royal Watercolour Society. In 1812, he returned to Oxford and began teaching. He travelled extensively to the Lake District, Wales, the Peak District, Clifton Gorge and the Wye, later exploring the New Forest and the South Downs. In 1838, he made his longest sketching tour through Scotland. His reputation was as a provincial painter. However, he was praised by Ruskin for his ‘quiet, simple earnestness, and tender feeling’. He died in Oxford at the age of 72.
