Samuel Medley (1769–1857) was an accomplished portrait painter. His works include a large group representing the Medical Society of London. Many prints were engraved and distributed after his paintings. He is also known as one of the founders of University College, London.

Born in 1769, son of the Baptist minister Samuel Medley, Samuel junior was a member of a large Baptist community in London. Along with other leading Dissenters, such as the prominent English Baptist minister Francis Augustus Cox and intellectual Henry Brougham, he was associated with founding University College, London in 1826.

Medley entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1791 aged twenty-two, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1792. In 1805 he turned to the Stock Exchange to make an income, but continued to paint in his leisure hours.