George Wallis
George Wallis FSA (1811–1891) was an artist, museum curator and art educator.
He was was born at Wolverhampton on 8 June 1811, the son of John Wallis (1783–1818) and his wife Mary, née Price (1784–1864). His father died early, and George Wallis was adopted by his grand-uncle, John Worralow, a famous maker of steel-jewellery. George Wallis was educated at the Grammar School from 1825 to 1827 and received initial training in japanned ware painting. He practised as an artist and art educator in Wolverhampton from 1827 to 1832, but then left for Manchester where he lived the next five years.
He attended the Royal Manchester Institution; practised painting; became connected with the local Manchester industry, and it was then and there that he met the great engineer Joseph Whitworth (1803–1887) who became his lifelong friend.
From 1852–1857, George Wallis was the Headmaster of the Birmingham School of Design. In 1853 he was also the head of the only school of rifle design in Britain and as an acknowledged expert in the matter of small arms, he was appointed to a Royal Commission ostensibly to attend the Exhibition of Industry in the City of New York but particularly ‘to compare side by side the military weapons of the two countries’ along with his friend Joseph Whitworth.
For much more information, see the Wikipedia entry.