 Lacy was born, as Walter Williams, in Bristol in 1809, the son of a coach-builder, and was educated for the medical profession.He was first seen on the stage in Edinburgh in 1829, as Count Montalban in "The Honey Moon"; he was playing there again in 1832, and acted also in Glasgow, Liverpool, and Manchester.His debut in London was at the Haymarket Theatre in August 1838, as Charles Surface in "The School for Scandal".