William Pye was born in 1855 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. He went to sea as a young man but returned and studied at Hatherley's Art School in London. He appears in the 1881 census as living in the High Street at Haleigh in Essex, near Leigh-on-Sea, near Southend on the mouth of the River Thames. "A Rough day at Leigh" was painted in the same year and there is a watercolour of this in the V & A in London. There was a severe storm in the area during 13/14 October which may actually date the work.. Pye William , 2 Eaton Cottages, Rodwell , Weymouth , 452, 484. Pyne Thomas, 44,
He moved to Weymouth in Dorset (c 1884) where he remained for over 50 years. He taught as Art master at Connaught House in Weymouth until his death in 1934.
He exhibited at the Royal Academy, The British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists. Weymouth Museum has a large collection of his work.