Sidney Richard Percy
Encyclopedia
Biography
Sidney Richard Percy Williams was the fifth son of Edward WilliamsEdward Williams (painter)
Edward Williams was an English landscape painter. He was the son of engraver Edward Williams and Mary Ward, daughter of James & Rachael Ward....
. Although his early paintings were signed "Sidney Williams", from age 20 onwards he used the name "Percy" to differentiate himself from his painting family. He exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
from 1842 onwards, at the British Institution
British Institution
The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...
, and with the Royal British Academy.
His painting was done mostly in Northern Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
and Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
.
After marrying in 1863, he settled in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. Their new home, Hill House was well-placed for painting forays into the English woodland, situated as it was across the Misbourne Valley. During this period he achieved immense popularity and his income was sufficient to indulge his wife in her extravagant tastes - she kept a carriage and employed a large retinue of servants.
In 1865 Percy travelled to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, and returned visiting Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. War between Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1866, temporarily put an end to foreign travel, but Percy found ample inspiration in the Welsh countryside. He spent many painting days in and around the villages of Llanbedr
Llanbedr
Llanbedr is a village in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, Wales.The village originally grew around the slate quarrying industry. Attractions in Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones and Bronze Age hut circles. The Morfa Dyffryn sand dunes and Mochras lie nearby...
and Arthog
Arthog
Arthog is a village and community in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. It is located on the A493, approximately west of Dolgellau, and has a population of 1,010....
, on either side of the Mawddach estuary in Merioneth.
Family
Sidney Richard Percy Williams married Emily Charlotte Fairlam, daughter of Richard Fairlam, on 30 June 1857 in Barnes Parish Church.Their children were:
- Herbert Sidney Percy Williams, death date unknown, HammersmithHammersmithHammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
- Gordon Williams, death c1894
- Edith Williams
- Amy Dora Williams, born c1861, died 1957, Grange over Sands
See also
- Edward WilliamsEdward Williams (painter)Edward Williams was an English landscape painter. He was the son of engraver Edward Williams and Mary Ward, daughter of James & Rachael Ward....
- Edward Charles WilliamsEdward Charles WilliamsEdward Charles Williams was an English landscape painter.He was the eldest son of Edward Williams and Ann Hildebrandt . He was taught painting by his father, adopting much of his style and technique...
- Henry John BoddingtonHenry John BoddingtonHenry John Boddington was an English landscape painter.-Life and work:Boddington was born Henry John Williams in St Marylebone, London, the second son of painter Edward Williams and his wife Anne . He had five brothers, all of whom became landscape painters...
- George Augustus WilliamsGeorge Augustus Williams-Life and work:Williams was born in St Marylebone, London, the third son of painter Edward Williams and Ann Hildebrandt.George Augustus painted riverscapes of the Thames, moonlit landscapes, seascapes and views of Kent, Wales and elsewhere...
- Arthur GilbertArthur GilbertArthur Gilbert , born Arthur Gilbert Frederick Williams, was a British painter from the Victorian era.-Biography:...
- Alfred Walter WilliamsAlfred Walter WilliamsAlfred Walter Williams was a Victorian landscape painter.Alfred was born in Southwark, London, one of identical twins born to the painter Edward Williams and Ann Hildebrandt; the second twin, Charles dying shortly after...