William Pye was born at Blackburn, Lancashire in 1855. His father was an ironmonger and he worked in the family business before going to sea. He later studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art, London. He is recorded at Hadleigh, Essex in 1881 and the following year in Weymouth, where he settled with his wife Annie at ‘Dunmore’, Longfield Road, Rodwell for over 50 years. He taught at Connaught House in Weymouth until his death. He was also one of the earliest members of the Dorset Field Club. Pye exhibited at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham (7); Dudley Gallery (7); Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (11); Manchester City Art Gallery (11); Royal Academy (3); Royal Society of British Artists (16); Royal Hibernian Academy (13); Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (4); Royal Institute of Oil Painters (4).
Pye was a regular churchgoer. He attended All Saints’ church in his early days at Weymouth and became a longstanding member of Holy Trinity church choir, followed by the choir of St Nicholas’s church. He requested that after his death his body should rest before the funeral in his studio at his home, where his last unfinished work was on the easel. He left no immediate family (Dorset Echo, 17th December 2003).
Annie died aged 70 on 4th June 1929. William died aged 79 on 12th January 1934. His funeral is recorded in the Southern Times of 20th January 1934. They are buried in the same grave in Wyke Regis Cemetery, Weymouth.
Mr K. Hearn
Text source: Art Detective
