William Matthew Prior: Life and Legacy Early Life and Training William Matthew Prior was born on May 16, 1806, in Bath, Maine, to Captain William Prior, a shipmaster, and Sarah Bryant Prior. He demonstrated an early aptitude for art, beginning his artistic journey with training under Charles Codman, a fellow Maine-based painter, completing his first portrait in 1823 at the age of seventeen. Career Development and the Prior/Hamblin School In 1840, Prior relocated to East Boston, Massachusetts, with his in-laws, including Sturtevant J. Hamblin, another painter. This move aimed to invigorate h…