PARRY, WILLIAM (c. 1742-1791), portrait-painter;
son of John Parry, ‘the blind harpist’ (1710?-1782) (q.v.). He was probably born in London, after his father's removal from Ruabon, and studied at Shipley's drawing school, the duke of Richmond's gallery, and the S. Martin's Lane academy, and eventually became a pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was awarded several premiums by the Society of Arts and became a member of the Incorporated Society of Artists. After some time spent painting near Ruabon, through the generosity of his patron, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, he went to Italy in 1770 and stayed there until 1775. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1776 and exhibited twenty-two pictures, mainly small full-length portraits, at the academy's exhibitions between 1776 and 1788. Parry's wife, a daughter of Henry Keene, the architect, d. in 1779, and much of his time after that was spent in Rome. He returned to Wales early in 1791, and d. 13 Feb. of that year.
Bibliography:
- D.N.B.;
- Graves; R.A., vi, 63.
Author:
Miss Megan Ellis, (1906-2001), Aberystwyth
