Robert Taylor Pritchett

Place: Whitechapel

Born: 1828

Death: 1907

Biography:

Robert Taylor Pritchett was born on February 24, 1828, in Whitechapel, London. He had an unlikely background for an artist as his father Richard Ellis Pritchett was the head of a well-known Enfield firearms firm. After attending King's College School, he joined his father's gun manufacturing business. In 1852, he met William Ellis Metford and together they invented the 'Pritchett bullet', which brought him fame and an award from the government. Pritchett was also involved in the foundation of the Working Men's College and remained a liveryman of the Gunmakers' Company until his death. In addition to being a gun manufacturer, he was also an artist who painted royal ceremonies for Queen Victoria and illustrated Charles Darwin's 'The Voyage of the Beagle'. He passed away on June 16, 1907.