William Kilburn (1745–1818) was an illustrator for William Curtis' Flora Londinensis, as well as a leading designer and printer of calico. A few hundred originals of his water colour designs, make up the Kilburn Album, housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.^[1]

William Kilburn was the son of a Dublin architect and was an apprentice to a calico printer, but spent his spare time engraving and sketching. He moved to Bermondsey after his father's death, and found living quarters near Curtis's nursery. Within a short while his skills were being used in the Flora Londinensis. He soon returned to calico printing, becoming financially successful.

Kilburn was the chief petitioner in March 1787, requesting Parliament for design copyright protection in the textile industry. At that time Kilburn was a calico printer at Wallington in Surrey. Ralph Yates, who was a London warehouseman, regularly sold Kilburn's designs to the firm of Peel & Co. in Bury in Lancashire, who would copy the design and produce a cheaper fabric that appeared in shops within a few days. Consequently the House of Commons proposed a Bill to control the plagiarism, a step meeting furious objections from Carlisle, Aberdeen, Manchester and Lancashire, who felt that their trade would collapse. The bill was passed in May 1787 "An Act for the Encouragement of the Arts of designing and printing Linens, Cottons, Callicoes and Muslins by vesting the Properties thereof in the Designers, Printers, Proprietors for a limited Time." This "limited Time" was a period of two months from the date of first publishing.^[2]

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v • d • e Textile designers 18th century: Anna Maria Garthwaite · William Kilburn 19th century: John Henry Dearle · William Morris · Franco Scalamandré · C. F. A. Voysey Early 20th century: Alexander Girard · Ruth Reeves · May Smith · Thelma Johnson Streat · Silver Studio Late 20th century: Laura Ashley · Hiroshi Awatsuji · Helen Berman · Valerie Campbell-Harding · Lucienne Day · Ada Dietz · Joan Glass · Lily Goddard · Hans Krondahl · Marimekko · Vuokko Nurmesniemi · Marianne Straub · Mary White Contemporary: Celia Birtwell · Benoit Pierre Emery · Ivana Helsinki · Campion Platt

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