William Mulready (1 April 1786 – 7 July 1863) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

genre painter living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He is best known for his romanticising depictions of rural scenes, and for creating

Mulready stationery Mulready stationery describes the postal stationery letter sheets and envelopes that were introduced as part of the British Post Office postal reforms of 1840. They went on sale on 1 May 1840, and were valid for use from 6 May. The Mulready name ...

letter sheet In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...

s, issued at the same time as the Penny Black postage stamp.

Life and family

William Mulready was born in Ennis,

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

. Early in his life, in 1792, the family moved to

, where he was able to get an education and was taught painting well enough so that he was accepted at the Royal Academy School at the age of fourteen. Choosing the Wedding Gown vicar of wakefield mulready

Choosing the Wedding Gown vicar of wakefield mulready

In 1802, he married Elizabeth Varley (1784–1864), a landscape painter. She came from a family of established artists; her brothers included John Varley, friend of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

Cornelius Varley Cornelius Varley, FRSA (21 November 1781 – 2 October 1873) was a British water-colour painter and optical instrument-maker. He invented the graphic telescope and the graphic microscope. Biography Varley was born at Hackney, then a village ...

, and William Fleetwood Varley. Their three children, Paul Augustus (1805–1864), William (1805–1878), and Michael (1807–1889) also became artists. His relationship with his wife however deteriorated gradually over the years, which is detailed in papers stored at the library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. His strong Catholic beliefs prevented any chance of a divorce but they separated. He accused her of "bad conduct" but shied from providing details. In a letter to him in 1827 she blamed him entirely for the collapse of their marriage, suggesting cruelty, pederastic activities and adultery were the reasons, writing that one of his pupils, Harriet Gouldsmith, had told her Malready "preferred her little finger" to his wife and children, and accusing him having "had taken a low boy to your bed, and turned one adrift at midnight, to seek one at the house of an unmarried man." His son, William Mulready Junior (1805–1878), lived in London and maintained a career of a portrait painter and picture restorer. He had five children (Ellen, Mary, Augustus Edwin, Henry William, and JohnCensuses 1861, 1871, 1881). They also were trained as artists, but not all of them pursued the artistic career: Henry William and John described themselves as 'house painters'.

Augustus Edwin Mulready Augustus Edwin Mulready (23 Feb 1844 – 15 March 1904) was an English genre painter whose work often depicted London street scenes with urchins and flower-sellers. Life and work Mulready came from a family of artists. His grandfather, ...

(1844–1904) was the most successful of them and became known as a member of the

Cranbrook Colony The Cranbrook Colony was a group of artists who settled in Cranbrook, Kent from 1853 onwards and were inspired by seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish painters. They have been referred to as 'genre' painters as they tended to paint scenes of the ...

of artists.

Artistic career

Many of his early pictures show landscapes, before he started to build a reputation as a genre painter from 1808 on, painting mostly everyday scenes from rural life. He also illustrated children's books including the first edition of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Mary Lamb Mary Anne Lamb (3 December 1764 – 20 May 1847) was an English writer. She is best known for the collaboration with her brother Charles on the collection '' Tales from Shakespeare'' (1807). Mary suffered from mental illness, and in 1796, aged ...

's ''

Tales from Shakespeare ''Tales from Shakespeare'' is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons" while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible. Mary Lamb was responsible for r ...

'' in 1807;

William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children ''The Butterfly's Ball, and the G ...

's entertaining poem '' The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast'' in the same year; and a sequel to the latter by

Catherine Ann Dorset Catherine Ann Dorset (1752 – 1834) was a British author of poems for children. She had a successful career as a writer. Dorset anonymously collaborated on several works with her sister, Charlotte, which were Catherine Ann's first publications. ...

. Some of these were for the Juvenile Library of William Godwin and Mary Jane Clairmont; Godwin in turn wrote, under a pseudonym, an account of Mulready's early life, suitable for children. William Mulready - Othello - Walters 372629

William Mulready - Othello - Walters 372629

Mulready's paintings were popular in

Victorian times In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

. His first painting of importance, ''Returning from the Ale House'', now in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, London, under the title ''Fair Time'', appeared in 1809. In 1815 he became an Associate of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.) and R.A. in 1816. In the same year, he also was awarded the French "

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

". Mulready's most important pictures are in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and in the Tate Gallery. In the former are 33, among them ''Hampstead Heath'' (1806); ''Giving a Bite'' (1836); ''First Love'' (1839); ''The Sonnet'' (1839); ''Choosing the Wedding Gown'' (1846); and ''The Butt'' (''Shooting a Cherry'') (1848). In the latter are five, including a ''Snow Scene''. In the National Gallery,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, are ''Young Brother'' and ''The Toy Seller''. His ''Wolf and the Lamb'' is in Royal possession. In 1840, Mulready designed the illustrations for the

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related serv ...

, known as

were introduced by the Royal Mail at the same time as the Penny Black in May 1840. They were issued in two forms; one variant was precut to a diamond or lozenge shape and folded to form an envelope that could be held together by seal at the apex of the topmost flap; and

lettersheet In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...

s that were cut in rectangles, folded over and sealed or tucked in. Stationery manufacturers, whose livelihood was threatened by the new lettersheet, produced many caricatures (or

lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', a noted humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), a defunct offshoot of ''Harvard Lampoon'' ***National Lampoon, Incorporated, a 20 ...

s) of Mulready's design. Only six days after their introduction, on May 12,

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...

wrote that; ''I fear we shall have to substitute some other stamp for that design by Mulready ... the public have shown their disregard and even distaste for beauty,'' and within two months a decision had been made to replace the Mulready designed stationery. Essentially Mulready's designs were a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

Death

He died at the age of 77 in Bayswater, London and is buried in the nearby

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

where a monument to his memory was erected. The monument lies on the north side of the main path, midway between the entrance and the main chapel, and although not in the front line of graves it is easily spotted due to its unique form. The tomb was designed by

Godfrey Sykes Godfrey Sykes (born Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire, 1824 – died London 28 February 1866) was an English designer, metalworker, sculptor and painter. Biography Early career After an apprenticeship to the Sheffield engraver James Bell, ...

References

External links

*
Portrait of Mulready
by Thomas Bridgford
William Mulready
* * , an engraving by Charles Fox of ''A Sailing Match'' (c. 1831) for The Amulet annual for 1833 with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

Artistic

County Clare Library
Famous Artist Born in Ennis
Emory University's Shakespeare Illustrated
Mulready's ''

Seven Ages of Man "All the world's a stage" is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy ''As You Like It'', spoken by the melancholy Jaques in Act II Scene VII Line 139. The speech compares the world to a stage and life to a ...

''
National Portrait Gallery, London
Portraits of, and by, William Mulready
Tate Collection, UK
Works by William Mulready

Philatelic

Envelopes, Letter Sheets, Parodies and Exhibit Pages

Stamps That Changed the World

Other

Kensal Green Cemetery Tour
Find the Mulready Tomb {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulready, William 1786 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Irish genre painters People from Ennis Royal Academicians 19th-century Irish male artists