Alexander Williams RHA

Alexander Williams RHA (21 April 1846 – 15 November 1930) was an Irish landscape and marine painter. He was also an ornithologist, taxidermist, and professional singer.

Early life and family Alexander Williams was born at the house of his aunt on The Diamond in Monaghan Town on 21 April 1846. His father was William Williams, a hatter. He attended Drogheda Grammar School. He was raised in Drogheda in County Louth, where the family lived over the family business, a hatters and shop. The Williams had been hatters for a number of generations, dating back to an ancestor who settled in Ireland in the 1600s from Glamorganshire who was a felter. In 1860 the family moved to Dublin, living at May 1860 to 19 Bayview Avenue, North Strand, Dublin. In 1866, a fire broke out in the taxidermy workshop which destroyed the family business and killed six residents of the adjoining house. Operating from 2 Dame Street, the business became a success from the 1870s, with private individuals and institutions such as the Natural History Museum, Dublin among their clients.

While he served his apprenticeship as a hatter and then pursued a career in taxidermy, Williams also pursued painting. William Brocas, an established artist of the period, visited the hat shop and Williams' father suggested that he show the artist some of his work. Williams recalled the artist's response:

Brocas gazed at me intently, brushing back with his hand the thick hair on my forehead and remarked, "He has a fine head! Make an artist of him is it?" Then in a tone of withering contempt that I have never forgotten, he added: "Make a sweep of him first." This pronouncement from a well known Dublin artist, who my Father considered eminent in his profession, was a finishing stroke and I need hardly remark that my Father seem[ed] inclined to throw cold water on my further efforts.

Artistic career Williams turned to a photographer and artist, Forster in Westmoreland Street, for advice. "His reply was concise and to the point and I never forgot it. Sit down in the first ditch you come to and try and paint what you see!" He remained largely self-taught, attending only the Royal Dublin Society night school for some lessons in drawing and painted in oils and watercolours. He exhibited Hard Times, a winter scene with birds painted from nature, at the Royal Hibernian Academy annual exhibition of 1870, and had his first sales at the RHA the following year. He continued to exhibit at the academy every year until his death,

Williams left the taxidermy business when he was appointed as an alto at Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle, having also sung with the Dublin Glee and Madrigal Union quintet. The following year he was one of the founder members and first secretary of the Dublin Sketching Club. He also exhibited regularly with the Water Colour Society of Ireland, and contributed pictures to various other societies. Among his surviving papers is a diary that Williams kept between 1906 and 1913 of his time on Achill island.

He was commissioned by Blackie & Son in 1911 to produce paintings used to illustrate a set of four books entitled Beautiful Ireland.

Death and legacy Williams died on 15 November 1930. He left 35 volumes of papers, including several volumes of memoirs, diaries, exhibition and guest books, financial accounts, and innumerable letters. Two further ornithological diaries are in the possession of the Ulster Museum.

The National Gallery of Ireland, the Hugh Lane Gallery, and Monaghan County Museum each own a work. The National Library of Ireland and the Crawford Gallery both have a number of his sketches. The Lake Hotel in Killarney hold a number of works by him.