Charles Leslie (1839-1886) was an English landscape painter during the Victorian era, and a member of the Williams family of painters. He was born Charles Edward John Leslie on 27 November 1839 in the Pentonville Road area of the Islington borough of London. He was the son of Emily Ann Williams and Charles Leslie, senior. His grandfather Edward Williams (1781-1855) was a well-known landscape painter, and the father of six sons, all artists, who collectively are referred to as the Williams family of painters.

The younger Charles learned to paint from his uncles, especially George Augustus Williams, whom he lived with in 1856 and 1857 at 32 Castelnau Villas in Barnes at a time when Leslie was already exhibiting works at th...