About William Tyler
Lived 1728 – 1801 (aged 73). William Tyler was an architect and sculptor.
William Tyler (18 April 1728 – 6 September 1801) was an English sculptor, landscaper, and architect, and one of the three founding members of the Royal Academy, in 1768. He was Director of the Society of Artists.
Early life Tyler went to Westminster School, and then studied for some years with leading sculptor Louis François Roubiliac who had moved to London in 1732. Tyler married in 1750, aged 22, and is said to have initially lived in Dean Street. from 1763 to 1784.
As a sculptor, he produced various monuments, including that to George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield at Spelsbury in Oxfordshire,
The monument to Thomas Lewis (1690-1777), MP for Radnor in Old Radnor church in 1777.
A monument in York Minster to vice-admiral Henry Medley is also attributed to Tyler.
Tyler also worked with one of his pupils, Robert Ashton, with whom he produced a monument to scholar Dr Martin Folkes. the Ordnance office in Westminster (1779–80) demolished 1805 the Villa Maria – later renamed Gloucester Lodge – in Kensington (c.1800), commissioned by the Duke of Gloucester for his wife, and later the home of George Canning Bridport Town Hall in Dorset (1786) Dorset County Gaol, Dorchester (c. 1795) He exhibited there between 1869 and 1800, starting with a work described in the catalogue as "a marble bas-relief, an Indian, representing North America, offering the produce of that country to Britannia". In later years he did show some architectural drawings, for the "Garden front of a villa" (1782); Dorchester prison (1784); "a Belvidere to be built in a shrubbery" (1785); "the front of a prison" (1786); Bridport Town Hall (1789) and the "Villa Maria" (1800). His address is given in the catalogues as Vine Street until 1784, Gower Street from 1785, and Caroline Street, Bedford Square in 1800.
He appears to have played a leading in a revolt against Sir Joshua Reynolds In 1795 Tyler and George Dance, were appointed to examine the accounts of the academy following the resignation of Sir William Chambers. The following year Tyler and Dance became the Academy's first auditors, helping put the institution on a sounder financial footing, for which Tyler was presented with a silver cup in 1799.
Tyler died at his home in Caroline Street, Bedford Square, on 6 September 1801.
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Important facts
People in William Tyler's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped William Tyler's
Frequently asked questions
Who was William Tyler?
Architect, Sculptor
When was William Tyler born?
William Tyler was born on 18 April 1728.
When did William Tyler die?
William Tyler died on 6 September 1801.
What was William Tyler's occupation?
William Tyler was an architect and sculptor.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: William Tyler (architect)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). William Tyler. https://biography.guide/william-tyler-architect/
MLA: "William Tyler." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/william-tyler-architect/.
Chicago: "William Tyler." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/william-tyler-architect/.
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