Background
Bemrose was born in Derby on 30 December 1831 and he was named after his father.
Bemrose was born in Derby on 30 December 1831 and he was named after his father.
He wrote and published a biography of Joseph Wright of Derby. He was the middle of three sons and he later had a sister. Bemrose"s elder brother, Henry Howe Bemrose, was an Member of Parliament and was made a baronet in 1897.
Bemrose went to school at King William"s College in Castletown in the Isle of Manitoba before joining the family"s printing business in Derby.
William married Margaret Romana in 1858. William later became a director of the reviving Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Works, but throughout his life he took an interest in arts and craft.
In 1862, he published what is thought to be the first manual on wood carving and it went to over twenty editions. He also published books on fretwork, marquetry, paper mosaics and paper-rosette work.
In 1870, he co-authored a book on Derbyshire pottery and then published his own works on Bow, Chelsea and Derby Porcelain and later Longton Hall Porcelain.
Bemrose was an amateur painter and chaired the Derby Art Gallery committee. He collected art and pottery which he purchased during his wide travels. His interest in art and writing culminated in an academic study of Joseph Wright of Derby which was published with quality by his own company.
He was also involved with organising an orphanage and served seventeen years in the 1st Derby Volunteers.
Bemrose died in Bridlington on 6 August 1908, but was buried in Derby. During his life William Bemrose established an extensive collection of porcelain and other objects of art
After his death they were sold at auction in his Derby Home, "Elmhurst", Lonsdale Place, Derby, In March 1909. Elmhurst was eventually sold on to The Corporation of Derby and became a children"s home in the 1940s.
The printing company started by his father in 1826 continued in Derby, employing up to 1,500 staff at its peak until June 2010 when BemroseBooth closed.
He was also vice-president of Derby Sketching Club and a member of Derby Archaeological Society.