William Christian Symons was born in Bridge Street, London, England on 28 November 1845. He studied at Lambeth School of Art and in 1866 briefly at the Royal Academy Schools in London where he was awarded a silver medal for drawing from the antique. He subsequently worked as a painter and in various fields of the decorative and applied arts including stained glass and mosaic art. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London from 1869 to 1911. He also exhibited at Baillie Gallery, Grosvenor Gallery, Goupil Gallery, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the New English Art Club, the Royal Society of British Artists, and the Royal Society of Oil Painters; the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Manchester academy of Fine Arts; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
He contributed illustrations to various journals including Strand, The Graphic and the Magazine of Art.
He designed mosaic decorations for Westminster Cathedral in London which were installed by George Bridge and a team of 24 mosaicists in 1902-03. He also produced designs for Doulton & Co., and over a number of years from 1870, designs for stained glass windows for Lavers, Barraud & Westlake.
His address was given as 7 South Lambeth Road, London in 1869 and 1896; The Yew Trees, Mayfield, East Sussex in 1898 and 1899; The Upper Lake, Sussex in 1905 and 1908; and in 1910 and Stocks, Udimore, Rye, Sussex where he died on 4 September 1911.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
