Background
William Rollinson was born on 15 April 1762 in Dudley, Worcester, England, eldest son of Robert and Mary (Hill) Rollinson.
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William Rollinson
Edit Profileengraver lieutenant of artillery
Career
On November 29, 1788, Rollinson sailed from England for America. During the voyage he improvised tools and engraved ornaments and monograms on jewelry for officers and passengers.
Arriving in New York February 15, 1789, he soon was employed in ornamenting silver buttons for the coat worn by Washington at his inauguration. Other similar work followed, and in about a year he returned to England to bring over his wife and child.
In the American spirit of turning one's hand to anything, he soon began, with no experience, to engrave on copper, and chose for his first effort the subject then most popular with engravers--a portrait of George Washington.
For The Self-Interpreting Bible (1792), edited by the Reverend John Brown, he engraved seven plates, pronounced "crude" by Stauffer (post), who adds that he improved rapidly.
About 1796 he changed from line to stipple engraving, doing work for magazines, as also an engraving of Archibald Robertson's portrait of Alexander Hamilton (1804).
He engraved bookplates, maps, and certificates.
A noted plate is the aquatint view of New York from Long Island (1801) from a drawing by John Wood.
He naturally turned to banknote engraving, developing a method of ruling lines by machine to prevent counterfeiting.
Engaging W. S. Leney to engrave his vignettes in order to improve the artistic element of his products, he took his place among those who perfected methods of banknote engraving, specially cultivated in the United States by many capable engravers.
Views
Quotations: Rollinson wrote in his diary, "By when I arrive in America it will bring my hand in and I shall be capable of turning cypher cutter in general to the United States" (Reid and Rollinson, post, p. 13).
Membership
He was a Mason, a volunteer fireman, a member of the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, and a lieutenant of artillery.
Personality
Tall, and of great bodily strength, Rollinson was "easy going, bright and jovial" (Brand, post, p. 4).
Quotes from others about the person
Though he "had no knowledge of processes used by those brought up to the profession, " he "had perseverance and ingenuity to surmount all difficulties" (Dunlap, post, I, 188).
Connections
On May 10, 1782, he was married, in Birmingham, to Mary Johnson, ten years his senior.
Three of his grandsons entered the ministry: William Rollinson Whittingham, Episcopal bishop of Maryland, Richard Whittingham, and William Rollinson. Rollinson's diary of his voyage to America is in the possession of his great-grandson, Charles Rollinson.
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Born
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Died
September 21, 1842 (aged 80) -
Resting place
New York City, New York, United States -
Nationality
American