Identity:
Despite the difference in spelling, Thomas Layland may have been related to F. R. Leyland, who mentioned him in a letter to JW dated 8 November 1872 (#02565). He is probably the person JW referred to, in a letter to Frances Leyland, as her son's 'Uncle Tom' (#08051).
Life:
Layland appears to have collected works of art and may also have been an artist himself (#02609), exhibiting several works in London in the autumn of 1872, according to letters from JW to Frances and F. R. Leyland (#08055, #08794).