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William Paley graduated from Christ's Church, Cambridge, in 1763. He was ordained into the Church of England in 1765 and the following year was appointed as a Fellow and Tutor of his college. In 1782, he was made Archdeacon of Carlisle and later became a Canon of St Paul's.
Paley is remembered as a theologian and moralist. His most important works were The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), A View of the Evidence of Christianity (1794), which was required reading for entrance to Cambridge until the twentieth century, and Natural Theology (1802). In Natural Theology, he famously used the analogy of a watchmaker to argue for the existence of God.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

William Paley

Date

1789–1791

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 152 x W 122 cm

Accession number

3659

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1949

Work type

Painting

National Portrait Gallery, London

St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England

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Artist or maker

George Romney

1734–1802

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