Early Life, Family and Training William Stott was born on 20 November 1857 in Oldham, Lancashire, England. He grew up in a household shaped by the local industry, as his father was an owner of a cotton mill in the area. This connection to his roots remained important to him throughout his life; even as his career took him far from the industrial landscape of Lancashire, he chose to sign his name as "of Oldham" to acknowledge his origins and to distinguish his work from other artists of the same name. His formal education in art began in his hometown, where he studied at the Oldham School of…