Sir William Gell

Sir William Gell FRS (1 April 1777 – 4 February 1836) was an English classical archaeologist and illustrator.

Born at Hopton in Derbyshire, the son of Philip Gell and Dorothy Milnes (daughter and coheir of William Milnes of Aldercar Park). The Gell family was one of the oldest families in England with a tradition of service in the Army, Navy, Parliament and the Church going back to 1209, in the reign of King John. His great grandfather was the parliamentarian Sir John Gell and his uncle was Admiral John Gell. Gell was educated at Derby School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He matriculated there in 1793, took a BA degree in 1798 and an MA in 1804, and was elected a fellow of Emmanuel.

William Gell was a great friend of Thomas Moore, Walter Scott and Lord Byron. He wrote many books, most of them illustrated with his own sketches. In 1801, at the age of 24, he was sent on his first diplomatic mission to Greece.

From 1804 to 1806 he travelled in Greece, the neighbouring islands, and coastal Asia Minor. In 1804 he fixed the site of Troy at Bournabashi (), some distance south — approximately six miles or nine-and-a-half kilometres directly, eight miles or thirteen kilometres by modern roads – of the modern consensus site at Hisarlik. He cited Jean Baptiste LeChevalier "and others" as his sources for the idea, which his own observations seemed to him to confirm, although he pointed out what he considered unresolved problems.

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