William Linley

Portrait of William Linley, by Thomas Lawrence (Dulwich Picture Gallery), aged around 18. William Linley (1771–1835) was one of seven musical siblings born to Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson.

Early life Born in Bath, Somerset, on 27 January 1771 Linley was the youngest child of Thomas Linley and Mary Johnson (1729–1820). Educated at Harrow and then St Paul's School, additional tutoring in musical disciplines was provided by his father and Carl Friedrich Abel.

He joined the British East India Company and was in India from 1790 to 1795 and from 1800 to 1805, holding a writership at their College in Madras. He retired from the company in 1810 and devoted himself to singing, composing glees and songs and writing literature. He bequeathed his collection of family portraits to Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The Linley portrait collection: seven musical siblings