William Hayes Sea Pie Oystercatcher Bird

William Hayes (1729–1799)

The 18th-century bird illustrator William Hayes (1735–1802) spent much of his life in Southall, Middlesex. Little more is known except that he fathered twenty-one children, ten of whom survived him, and as a result struggled financially to support his family.

Hayes is best-known for two publications, 'A Natural History of British Birds', 1775 and 'Portraits of Rare and Curious Birds, with their Descriptions, from the Menagery of Osterly Park [sic]', 1794–1799. He also produced a series of 'Portraits of British and Exotic Birds Coloured from Nature', 1778, which included birds belonging to one of his early patrons, the Earl of Sandwich.

Hayes's largest project was a commission to illustrate the menagerie at Osterley Park, Middlesex, owned by Robert and Sarah Child. Published in two volumes, in 1794 and 1799, it comprised forty-two hand-coloured plates. The Menagerie at Osterley Park contained over ninety-seven different species of bird, cared for by a 'Menagerie Man' called Jonathan Chipps. After Robert Child's death, his widow Sarah commissioned Hayes to paint the birds for a series of pictures which were later hung at the menagerie.

In the 18th century, exotic birds from the far corners of the globe often made their way to England in the holds of East India Company ships, destined for the collections of wealthy landowners. The acquisition of such commodities was the height of fashion, feeding a broader vogue for Asian decorative objects and styles; exotic birds would adorn not only in garden menageries but porcelain, textiles and wallpaper. Visiting Osterley Park in 1772, Agneta Yorke wrote to Lady Beauchamp Proctor that she thought it, ‘The prettiest place I ever saw, ’tis an absolute retreat, & fill’d with all sorts of curious and scarce Birds and Fowles, among the rest 2 Numidian Cranes that follow like Dogs, and a pair of Chinese teal that have only been seen in England before upon the India paper.'