Joseph Goodyear was born in Birmingham in 1799 and was first apprenticed to an engraver on plate, named Tye.
Subsequently, he was extensively employed on the minute illustrations and vignettes which adorned the elegant 'Annuals' so much in vogue at that date.
He did not execute any large plate until he was employed by William and Edward Finden to engrave Eastlake's picture of 'The Greek Fugitives' for their Gallery of British Art.
He endured a lingering illness for a year, and died at his house in Kentish Town on 1 October 1839, in his forty-first year, and was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.
[1] His grave (no.38), which no longer has a visible headstone or marker, is close to that of James Baylis Allen.