FRITH, WILLIAM POWELL English painter, was born at Aldfield, in Yorkshire, on Jan. 9, 1819. In 1835 he entered Henry Sass's school in Bloomsbury, from which he passed to the Royal Academy schools. In 184o his first pic ture, "Malvolio, cross-gartered before the Countess Olivia," was exhibited at the Royal Academy. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1845. His promotion to the rank of Academician followed in 1852, when he was chosen to fill the vacancy caused by Turner's death. A succession of large compo sitions of every-day English life gained for the artist an extra ordinary popularity. "Life at the Seaside," better known as "Ramsgate Sands," was exhibited in 18J4, and was bought by Queen Victoria; "The Derby Day," in 1858; "Claude Duval," in 186o; "The Railway Station," in 1862; "The Marriage of the Prince of Wales," painted for Queen Victoria, in 1865. He also painted a number of portraits. His "Derby Day" is in the Na tional Gallery, London. Frith died on Nov. 2, 1909.
See his Autobiography and Reminiscences (1887) ; Further Reminis cences (1889).