William Radclyffe

Who was William Radclyffe?

William Radclyffe was an English engraver and painter.

Born in Birmingham and self-educated, he was apprenticed to a letter engraver and studied drawing under Joseph Barber with his cousin John Pye. Both planned to move to London when their apprenticeships were complete in 1801, but Radclyffe remained in Birmingham for financial reasons and set up as an engraver and copperplate printer.

Radclyffe became well known as an engraver of landscapes, making prints after David Cox, J. M. W. Turner and Peter De Wint and illustrating numerous works of travel literature.