William Shipley

William Shipley (baptised: 2 June 1715 – 28 December 1803) was an English drawing master, social reformer and inventor who, in 1754, founded an arts society in London that became The Royal Society of Arts, or Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA). Life Early years, training and career Shipley was born in Maidstone, Kent, the son of Jonathan Shipley (d. 1749, originally of Walbrook, London) and Martha (née Davies), and baptised on 2 June 1715. He had a brother Jonathan Shipley, who became the Bishop of St Asaph, and whose son William Davies Shipley became Dean of St Asaph. William grew up in the City of London. His father died when he was just three years old, and William was sent to live with his maternal grandfather. At the age of 21, he inherited £500 and used that money to practice as a painter and drawing master in Northampton. At this point, he also joined the Northampton Philosophical Society, where he began his philanthropic life by raising funds to buy fuel for the poor. Around 1750, Shipley moved to London and set up a drawing-school near Fountain Court in The Strand (at the east corner of Beaufort Buildings), which was known first as "Shipley's Academy" and later as "Ackermann's Repository of Arts". The school proved highly successful, and among Shipley's pupils were Richard Cosway, Thomas Jones, William Pars, and Francis Wheatley. Although Shipley had many students who went on to become famous artists, he himself was not remembered for his artwork.