William Jay Bolton

William Jay Bolton
Born	31 August 1816 Bath, Somerset, England
Died	1884
Resting place	Bath, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	artist/clergyman
Known for	stain glass manufacturer
Parent(s)	Robert Bolton / Ann Jay

William Jay Bolton (31 August 1816 – 28 May 1884) was the first artist in the United States to design and manufacture figural stained glass windows.

Bolton was born in Bath, Somerset, England and was the second son of a wealthy merchant, Robert Bolton, of Savannah, Georgia, who later became an ordained minister and the founder of Christ Church in Pelham, New York. Robert Bolton married Anne Jay in 1810. She was the daughter of the Evangelical minister William Jay. When Bolton was growing up he often went with his grandfather on summer trips through the countryside making pencil drawings of the stained glass windows of the churches they visited. Bolton probably learned his early appreciation of art due to the guidance by his grandfather, William Jay. Jay was a mason's apprentice during the construction of Fonthill Abbey. He often went with his aunt Arabella Jay to King's College Chapel in Cambridge. Here he saw early sixteenth-century stained glass windows of the church.

Bolton attended an Evangelical school in Mill Hill near London until he was 16. He then attended Cambridge University. He also briefly joined an engineering firm in Bath where he began painting in earnest. He first painted portraits of his family and friends. Bolton's parents and grandparents knew many famous artists including William Etty. Etty made two chalk drawings of baby Bolton. He also painted other Bolton family portraits.

In 1836 the family moved to Westchester County, New York, to the town of Pelham. In Pelham Washington Irving, a neighbour and family friend, introduced Bolton to Samuel F. B. Morse. Around 1839 Bolton became a student of Morse at the National Academy of Design. In 1840 Bolton received first prize for his drawing of the Venus de' Medici from the Academy.

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