William Behnes

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William Behnes (1795–3 January 1864) was a British sculptor from London. His father was a Hanoverian piano-maker. The family moved to Dublin, where William studied at the Dublin Academy, then returned to London and studied at the Royal Academy School from 1813 under Peter Francis Chenu. He also painted and showed works at the Royal Academy in 1815, winning medals. In 1819 he won a Society of Arts gold medal for inventing a tool to help sculpture.

In 1837 Behnes was named Sculptor in Ordinary to Queen Victoria. He taught many students who became famous sculptors, including George Frederic Watts, Thomas Woolner, Henry Weekes and Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. He enjoyed great success, but he could not manage his finances and was declared bankrupt in 1861. His last major work was the statue of Sir Henry Havelock in Trafalgar Square (1861), notable for being based on a photograph of the subject.

Behnes is thought to have struggled with alcohol and gambling, and bankruptcy worsened his life. He lived in poor lodgings and died in 1864 after being found unconscious in a gutter; he had only three pence. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Kensal Green Cemetery. George Cruikshank tried to raise money for a monument and a National Gallery bust, but the plan did not progress. In 2016 a 41-page sketchbook of Behnes's drawings sold at auction for about £2,200, including sketches of the Duke of Newcastle and Sir Robert Peel. Behnes created many busts, reliefs and church monuments, including Dr William Babington in St Paul’s Cathedral, and two casts of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (one in Trafalgar Square, the other in Sunderland).