William Daniell, RA (1769-1837)
Eminent draughtsman, watercolourist and aquatint engraver of landscape, topographical and architectural views, animal and marine subjects and portraits. Born in Chertsey, he was the nephew of T. Daniell and travelled with him to India aged 16.
Apart from Oriental Scenery, for which he spent seven years engraving the plates, his most important works are Six Views of London and Six Views of the London Docks 1805 and A Voyage Round Great Britain 1814-25. The plates for these works were engraved after his own drawings, but he also produced a large number of aquatints after his contemporaries. While many of the latter are not signed in the plate, it is possible to attribute them to William because of his distinctive technique.
William Daniell made a major contribution to the English travel books. In the 1820s, he engraved some very fine marine subjects, usually found uncoloured and printed in dark blue