William Ratcliffe (6 October 1870 – January 1955) was one of the Camden Town Group of artists in early twentieth-century England. Although he never achieved the fame of other members of the Group, such as his friend and mentor Harold Gilman, he remained a full-time artist throughout his life, relying on the support of friends and family.
William Whitehead Ratcliffe was born in 1870 in the village of Clenchwarton, near Kings Lynn (Norfolk, UK, but the family moved to Gorton, near Manchester, while he was still young. After leaving school and while working as a clerk for a cotton merchant, he attended classes at the Manchester School of Art [1]. There, he learned wallpaper design, possibly under Walter Crane, and by 1901, was working for the Wallpaper Manufacturers Combine. Shortly afterwards, his work took him to London, where he discovered the Garden City movement, which drew him to Letchworth Garden City, where he moved in 1906.
By 1907, Ratcliffe was living in Westholm, close to Stanley Parker, brother of the Garden City architect Barry. In 1908, they were joined by Harold Gilman and his wife Grace, forming a small artistic clique. Under Gilman's influence and encouragement, Ratcliffe turned his back on commercial art and illustration, devoting the reat of his life to fine art.