William Lionel Wyllie was known for his paintings, drawings, watercolours and etchings of the sea and ships. He made his name in the 1880s with unconventional paintings of the River Thames and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1889. He was a founder member of the Society for the Nautical Research whose primary aims were the restoration of the Victory and the foundation of the National Maritime Museum. By 1907, when he became a Royal Academician, he had moved to a house at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour. He had largely turned to painting naval and historical subjects. Nevertheless, he continued to make prints of London and the Thames to the end of his life. He painted the Panorama of the Battle of Trafalgar in Portsmouth Dockyard which was unveiled by George V in 1930. Both his son, Harold Wyllie (1880-1973), and brother, Charles Wyllie (1853-1923), were also gifted maritime artists.