Samuel Williams

Samuel Williams (23 February 1788 – 19 September 1853) was a British draughtsman and wood-engraver.

Life Williams was born at Colchester, on 23 February 1788. He was apprenticed to the Colchester printer J. Marsden, but taught himself to draw and engrave on wood. Headopted printmaking as his profession, and became known as a specialist in landscapes. He established himself first in Colchester, and then settled in London in 1819.

In the early part of his life, Williams also painted miniatures, and a few oil pictures. Having a facility in design, he used his own drawings for a high proportion of his prints. His first patron was Benjamin Crosby the publisher, for whom he illustrated a work on natural history in 1810. John Orrin Smith and George Baxter were his pupils.

Williams died on 19 September 1853. Thomas Williams (fl. 1830), his younger brother, was his pupil, and a wood-engraver who worked only after others. His prints can be found in James Northcote's Artist's Book of Fables 1828; and John Martin and Richard Westall's Bible Illustrations, 1833.