William Lee Hankey 1869-1952

William Lee Hankey was born in Chester. Married to Mabel Lee Hankey and then Edith Garner. Studied at Chester School of Art under Walter Schroeder, at the Royal College of Art and in Paris. From the early 1890s Lee Hankey exhibited at the main London galleries, especially Fine Art Society, RWS, Leicester and Lefevre Galleries, also RA, Goupil and many others. During the World War I served with the Artists' Rifles. British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum hold his work, as do British provincial galleries and galleries abroad such as Budapest and Vienna. Lee Hankey is notable for his paintings of French harbour scenes and paintings and etchings of English country life. Won a gold medal at the Barcelona International Exhibition and a bronze medal in Chicago, was a vice president of the RWS in the late 1940s and chairman of the Empire Art Council. His work is represented in a number of public collections (see Art UK).