William Home Lizars was born on May 4, 1788, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Daniel Lizars (1758-1812), a 19th-century Scottish engraver, map-maker, and publisher.
He was a Scottish painter and engraver. He was first apprenticed to his father, from whom he learned engraving. In order to pursue his ambition to become a professional painter, he entered as a student under John Graham the Trustees' Academy at Edinburgh. In 1812, upon his father’s death, Lizars had to carry on the business of engraving and copperplate printing in order to support his family. In 1826, he encountered J. J. Audubon (1785-1851), an American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter and he published his "Birds of America" (1827-1839). Lizars perfected a method of copper-engraving that imitated the effect of wood-engraving. From 1808 to 1815, he was a frequent exhibitor of portraits and genre paintings at exhibitions in Edinburgh. He was closely involved with the founding of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1826 and was appointed an associate engraver. The family firm which he ran with his brother Daniel was known as W. and D. Lizars or W.H. and D. Lizars and produced many illustrated maps, charts, anatomical plates, and Scottish scenes.
In 1820, he married Henrietta Wilson (1802–1870). He died on March 30, 1859, in Jedburgh, Scotland.