William Shipley

William Shipley (1715 - 1803)

William was born in Maidstone in 1715. His father died when he was just three years old, so he was sent to live with his maternal grandfather in London. On receiving an inheritance of £500 at the age of 21, he used the money to practice as a painter and drawing master in Northampton. He also joined the Northampton Philosophical Society and began his philanthropic life by raising funds to by fuel for the poor.

Around 1750, William moved back to London where he set up  a drawing school near Fountain Court in The Strand. The school proved highly successful and many of his pupils went on to become famous artists, including Richard Cosway, William Pars and Francis Wheatley.

Shipley was keen to make Great Britain a centre for intellectual advancements in the arts and sciences, publishing his proposals for a 'Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce' in 1753. The resulting organisation met in Covent Garden the following year with founding members including Viscount Folkestone, Lord Romney, Isaac Maddox, Stephen Hales and Thomas Baker, the naturalist. It would later become the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

The Society awarded premiums for inventions and discoveries, such as cobalt, and the raising and curing of madder. Textile manufacture was Britain's most important industry and the discovery of cobalt allowed cloth to be dyed a brilliant blue, while madder was the main source of all red dies at the time. These discoveries meant cloth could now be dyed at home rather than being sent abroad.

The Society was also interested in sourcing sufficient native timber for the ship-building industry. The Royal Navy relied on timber for its ships so the Society offered prizes for the growing of trees such as oaks, chestnuts, elms and firs. Money was raised through subscriptions and Shipley also awarded special prizes to encourage exploration and the development of new and more accurate maps.

He was elected a 'perpetual member' of the Society in February 1755 and was given a gold medal in 1758. However, he resigned his poster as registrar in 1760, perhaps because the Society had become more technical and industrial by this time.

Shipley married Elizabeth Miller in 1767, with whom he had two children. Sadly the eldest died after two months, but their second, Elizabeth, was born in 1771 and survived. Shipley also founded 'The Kentish society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge', which, in 1783, was instrumental in improving the sanitation of Maidstone gaol and preventing 'gaol fever'.

Shipley died in Maidstone on 28 December 1803. He was 89 years old. A monument was erected to his memory in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Maidstone.