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Punch was a magazine conceived by Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew and Douglas Jerrold in 1841. The periodical was announced as a ' new work of wit and whim ', but also offered moral judgements on the political and social scene of the time. It championed the poor and dispossessed as well as providing comment on government policy. As its popularity grew, a regular team of contributors were gathered. In the beginning a cartoon style was yet to be established, but throughout the years the standard of drawing reached great heights and cartoonists became well known in their own right. These cartoons cover the period 1890-1914 which is especially rich in expertly drawn and highly detailed drawings by a variety of artists whose styles complemented the subjects they illustrated. The humour of the cartoons may not have travelled too well through time, but the scenes provide 'snapshots' into the past of all aspects and levels of everyday society. The spelling and grammar has been retained in all the captions.

George Denholm Armour was born in Waterside, Lanarkshire in 1864, the son of a cotton broker. He was educated at Glasgow Academy and Madras College, St. Andrews. He studied art at the Edinburgh School of Art and also at the Royal Scottish Academy, where he was supported by Robert Alexander RSA. He moved to London to work as a painter and illustrator and shared a studio with Phil May. During the First World War, he commanded a cavalry squadron, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel with the British Salonika Force. He was awarded the OBE in 1919. He specialised in sporting drawings and his early work was published in the Graphic and Punch from 1896. He also contributed to Sporting & Dramatic News, Country Life and Tatler, and other sporting publications. He also painted equestrian portraits of society figures. He died in 1949.

Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer was born in St. John's Wood, London in 1870. He attended the St. John's Wood Art School, the RA Schools and the RCA. He started contributing cartoons and illustrations to the Pall Mall Magazine in 1893 and then to many others including the Bystander, Cassell's, Illustrated Bits, Pears' Annual, Sketch and the Christmas numbers of the Graphic. His first cartoon for Punch appeared in 1897 and he remained a contributor for fifty years (a record shared with Tenniel, Stampa and Shepard). Considered as Du Maurier's successor, he specialised in gently humourous scenes of middle and upper class life. He was also noted for his charming portraits of the 'bright young things' in the Tatler, acquiring popularity as 'the Baumer Girl'. He used many media with a light yet proficient touch. He was elected RI in 1925. He died in October 1963.

Alexander Stuart Boyd was born in Glasgow in 1854, the son of a muslin manufacturer. On leaving school he spent six years as a bank clerk, painting in his spare time. His pictures were exhibited at leading Scottish galleries from 1877 onwards and in 1879 he left the bank to become a full-time artist. He went to Heatherley's School of Art in London for further training and soon after, started as a cartoonist with the Glasgow paper Quiz in 1881 transferring to the Baillie in 1888. He was appointed Glasgow correspondent of the Daily Graphic in 1890 and moved to London, where he also contributed to other magazines including Punch, from 1894 onwards. His wife was a travel writer and he provided the illustrations for her travel books. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1912, becoming President of the Auckland Society of Artists. He died there in 1930.

Charles Edward Brock was born in Holloway, London in 1870, the son of a specialist reader in oriental languages for Cambridge University Press. He was educated at St. Barnabas School and Paradise Street School, Cambridge. His sole art training was working as an assistant in the studio of the Cambridge sculptor Henry Wiles. He produced all the illustrations for MacMillan's Standard Novels series. He also contributed drawings to the Illustrated London News and produced various book illustrations. He contributed cartoons to the Graphic and Chums, and also to Punch from 1901-1910. He sketched in ink and watercolour and later produced portraits in oil and was elected to the RI in 1908. He shared a studio with his younger brother Henry Matthew Brock who also contributed to Punch, but whose career was more varied and extended into advertising art. Charles Brock died in 1938.

Reginald Thomas Cleaver was born in Reigate, Surrey in 1864. He started contributing cartoons to the Graphic in 1887 and thereafter to the Daily Graphic, the first illustrated daily newspaper, at its inception in 1890. He founded a school of pictorial news reporting and became one of the leading artists on the Graphic, where his speciality was parliamentary scenes. In 1891 he began an association with Punch that lasted until 1937, and also contributed to Pearson's and the Strand. An exceptional draughtsman in pen and ink, he developed a very distinctive style using parallel lines to achieve a clean and mechanical form of shading with an accuracy of line and an almost shimmering appearance. His work reproduced perfectly by line block, even on inexpensive paper. He died in 1954.

Leonard Raven Hill was born in Bath in 1867, the son of a law stationer. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School, Devon County School and later studied art at Lambeth School of Art. While still a student, he contributed joke cartoons to Judy signed 'Leonard Hill'. He continued his studies at the Académie Julian in Paris. On his return to London, he worked first as a painter, exhibiting at the Royal Academy. However he found more success as a prolific contributor of joke cartoons, theatrical caricatures and illustrations to many publications including Black & White, Cassell's, Daily Graphic, Pall Mall Gazette and the Strand. He was also joint editor of the Butterfly (1893) and started the Unicorn in 1895. He was one of the most celebrated black-and-white artists of the period and joined Punch in 1896 to begin an association that lasted 40 years. He was adept at portraying characters using a strong draughtsmanlike quality. He died in 1942 at Ryde in the Isle of Wight.

George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was born in Paris in 1834, the son of an ambitious French inventor and an English mother. He was educated in France and came to London in 1851 to study chemistry, with the intention of becoming an analytical chemist. Having no success in this field, he returned to Paris in 1856 to study art and continued his studies in Antwerp. He settled in London in 1860 and started contributing to Punch in that year. He also contributed to other magazines including Black & White, English Illustrated Magazine and Sunday at Home, becoming one of the most respected illustrators of the decade. In 1864 he became a staff member of Punch. He took his humour from society characters, with particular reference to aesthetes and vulgarians - often with long accompanying captions. He became Punch's most popular contributor and through his social observations, had a strong influence on Victorian society. He died in 1896.

Philip William May was born near Leeds in 1864. He was orphaned at the age of nine and endured several years of poverty. Moving from job to job, he finally ended up begging on the streets. However he was a talented artist and started selling pictures of stage stars to theatre audiences. This work gained him employment as a cartoonist on the St. Stephen's Review. In 1885 he moved to Australia where he worked for the Sydney Bulletin. On his return to London in 1890, he did some book illustrating until he found employment with the Graphic. He began contributing cartoons to Punch in 1893 and two years later became a member of the staff. From 1892-1904 he produced a Phil May Annual. He had a deep sympathy for the poor and his style brought a new simplicity of line to popular cartooning which was very influential on other artists of the time. He was a heavy drinker and eventually this resulted in ill health, causing an early death in 1903, at the age of thirty-nine.

Bernard Partridge was born in London in 1861. After his education at Stonyhurst, he joined an architects office and studied stained-glass designers. He also acted in several plays (adopting the name Bernard Gould) and for a time was uncertain between a career in the performing arts or the graphic arts. Partridge was invited, by George Du Maurier, to contribute to Punch in 1891. His early drawings were illustrations to play reviews. The following year Partridge was asked to become a staff cartoonist with the magazine. In 1901 Partridge became the chief cartoonist at Punch. He was knighted in 1925 and died in 1945. Partridge's work reflect his theatrical background and many of his figures take a footlights-type pose. His cartoons display a very high standard of draughtsmanship and was considered to be one of the most accomplished artists employed by Punch. The precise detail in his cartoons are an excellent record of late Victorian and Edwardian life.

Frederick Pegram was born in London in 1870, a first cousin to Charles Edward Brock (and eventually brother-in-law) and Henry Matthew Brock. He studied at the Westminster School of Art and afterwards spent a short period in Paris. In 1886 he published some theatrical sketches in the Pall Mall Gazette and his carefully finished pen drawing made him in high demand as a cartoonist and illustrator. His work subsequently appeared in Black & White, Cassell's, Illustrated London News, Judy, Tatler and many others. From 1894 to 1937 he worked almost exclusively for Punch, producing social cartoons with a wry sense of humour. He was also a watercolour artist and was elected RI in 1925. In addition he produced pencil portrait drawings, etchings and undertook commercial work. He died in London in 1937.

Edward Tennyson Reed was born in Greenwich, London in 1860, the son of Sir Edward Reed, Chief Naval Architect and MP for Cardiff. He was educated at Harrow and after leaving there in 1879, he accompanied his father on a visit to Egypt, China and Japan. In 1883 he took up drawing and his talent was encouraged by the pre-Raphaelist artist, Edward Burne-Jones. In 1890 he was appointed to the staff of Punch and later introduced his 'Prehistoric Peeps' series which proved very popular. He succeeded Harry Furniss as the parliamentary caricaturist and continued this post until 1912. He also contributed politcal and legal cartoons to the Sketch and Bystander. He re-introduced the grotesque into Punch cartoons and achieved excellent facial likeness however bizarre the overall effect. He also had a gift for parody, notably of Aubrey Beardsley. He worked in pen and ink but preferred pencil with careful hatching and shading. He died in 1933.

Frank Reynolds was born in London in 1876, the son of an artist. He studied at Heatherley's School of Art and later contributed cartoons to Judy, Longbow and others. He provided cover drawings for Sketchy Bits and his full page humourous drawings in the Sketch c.1900 made his name. He was elected RI in 1901 and in 1906 began a long association with Punch, soon becoming one of the main cartoonists of social subjects and succeeding his brother-in-law, F.H.Townsend as Art Editor. He illustrated many of Charles Dickens work and continued to contribute to Punch until 1948, providing many coloured cartoons to the Almanacks and Summer Numbers. He used a variety of drawing media - pen, pencil, crayon, gouache and watercolour - producing strong images. He died on 18 April 1953.

Edward Linley Sambourne was born in London in 1845, the son of a prosperous City merchant. He was educated at the City of London School and Chester College. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a firm of marine engineers in Greenwich and continued in that career until 1867, when his drawings began to be accepted by Punch. Four years later he was elected to the editorial board. He also contributed cartoons to other magazines including London Society, Illustrated London News, Black & White, The Sketch and The Pall Mall Gazette, and illustrated many books. His drawing style was renown for its accuracy of detail and the strong lines that gave his outlines a hard edge. He was an inventive artist who appreciated page design and fantasy. He succeeded Sir John Tenniel as Punch's premier cartoonist on his retirement in 1901. He died in Kensington in 1910.

Giorgio Loraine Stampa was born in Constantinople in 1875, the son of a civil architect and a descendent of the Italian Rennaissance poet Gaspara Stampa (1520-54). He was educated at Appleby Grammar School and Bedford Modern School. His art training started at Heatherley's School of Art and was completed at the Royal Academy, where his fellow students included W. Heath Robinson and Lewis Baumer. He shared a studio with Savile Lumley and produced his first cartoon for Punch in 1894 becoming a full-time contributor from 1900. He also contributed to other magazines including Bystander, Graphic, Strand, Pall Mall Magazine and Cassell's Magazine. He was a genial eccentric and always carried a drawing pad and pencil stub (new pencils were cut into four pieces). He worked in ink, oil, pastel and watercolour on Vellum paper and board. He died in 1951.