William Bennet or Bennett (c. 1767 – c. 1833 or after), born at

Combe-in-Teignhead Combeinteignhead or Combe-in-Teignhead is a village in Teignbridge, South Devon, England. It lies within the civil parish of Haccombe with Combe, between Newton Abbot and Shaldon, about half a mile (1 km) inland from the estuary of the Riv ...

, Devonshire, was an English musician, a composer, organist and pianist. Bennet's father was a landowner in Devon, but had himself been organist of St Andrew's Church, Plymouth. As a young man Bennet was taught at

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, but he later moved to London where he studied with

Johann Christian Bach Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...

and with

Johann Samuel Schroeter Johann Samuel Schroeter or Schröter (2 March 1753 – 2 November 1788) was a German pianist and composer, active in London from 1772. Life Schröter was born in Guben to Johann Friedrich Schröter (1724–1811), an oboist for Augustus III of Po ...

. Returning to the west of England, in 1793 he took up an appointment as organist at St Andrew's, Plymouth, and in 1797 he married a Miss Debell. His compositions include music for piano and organ, and anthems and songs for voice. In 1820 he wrote an anthem for the coronation of

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. Nothing is known of his life after this date, but he may still have been at St Andrew's in 1833.

References

1767 births 1833 deaths Musicians from Devon 18th-century English musicians 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century British pianists 19th-century English musicians 19th-century organists 19th-century British pianists People from Teignbridge (district) English classical organists British male organists English classical pianists 19th-century British male musicians Male classical organists {{UK-keyboardist-stub