Alexander Munro (1825-1871) was born in Scotland, but through the patronage of Harriet, 2nd Duchess of Sutherland, studied in London and worked for Sir Charles Barry on the sculpture for the Houses of Parliament. He specialised in portraiture, particularly that of children. He executed several 'romantic' marbles, inspired by literary legends and closely linked to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, such as his Paolo and Francesca of 1851. The present marble figure shares both the early Renaissance romanticism and the literary source, simultaneously revealing Munro's skill at child portraiture.
Young Romilly was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1863, number 1036. The subject derives from the legend of Bolton Abbey immortalised by Wordsworth in his 1815 poem The Force of Prayer; or, The Founding of Bolton Priory. Tradition recounted that the Abbey was founded by Alicia de Romilly to commemorate her son's untimely death in the river Wharf. Munro has depicted the fourth stanza of Wordsworth's ode, before the boy's fatal jump across the Strid:
"Young Romilly through Barden woods
Is ranging high and low;
And holds a greyhound in a leash,
To let slip upon buck or doe."