Tate was born in 1747 probably at Gawber Hall, near Barnsley, where his father was a glass maker and was christened on 14 November in Darton near Barnsley He was educated at Woolton near Liverpool where his brother Richard Tate lived and had Joseph Wright of Derby as his lodger in 1769.
Richard was an amateur painter and was well connected. William Tate then became Wright"s student. lieutenant was with Joseph Wright in 1772 that William Tate first exhibited at the Society of Artists in London where he became a fellowship
Over the next twenty years Tate exhibited in Manchester (1773), Liverpool (1774–1787) and London (1778–1787) at the Royal Academy of Artist
Both Tate and Joseph Wright quarrelled with the Academy of Art which cannot have assisted Tate"s career. In LIverpool however he enjoyed good support and in 1784 his work was exhibited in Liverpool with the same prominence as Joshua Reynolds.
In 1787 William Tate moved to Manchester where he enjoyed a number of good commissions for portraits. He moved south to Bath in 1804 where he died in 1806.
There are twelve paintings in national collections in the United Kingdom including a portrait of Joseph Wright and Girl and Boy with a Bladder at Derby Museum and Art Gallery which also hosts the country"s main collection of Joseph Wright paintings.
