Lot "Lance" Thackeray (17 January 1867 – 10 August 1916) was an English illustrator, known especially for his comic sporting illustrations involving billiards and golf and for his many humorous postcards. Born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

to Thomas Thackeray and his wife Selina Neish, Thackeray was baptized into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

on 17 February 1867 at St John’s Church, Darlington. At the 1881 United Kingdom census, Thackeray, one of nine children, was aged fourteen and was still at school, while his father was recorded as a railway foreman porter. Two older sisters were a dressmaker and a milliner. His 82-year old maternal grandfather, originally from Scotland, was living with the family and was a gardener. Thackeray was a founding member of the

London Sketch Club __NOTOC__ The London Sketch Club is a private members' club for artists working in the field of commercial graphic art, mainly for newspapers, periodicals, and books. History The club was founded in 1898 by a breakaway group of members from t ...

. When he was over thirty, he spent some winters in Egypt and produced humorous sketches which he collected in ''The Light Side of Egypt'' (1908).Images from "The Light Side of Egypt" (1908)
bridgemanart.com Thackeray drew the designs for over 950 postcards, mostly humorous, and made a great number of illustrations for the press in England. At the beginning of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

despite being aged over forty, he volunteered for the

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

. He died in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1916 after a long illness. At the time of his death on 10 August 1916, Thackeray was a

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

. He was buried in the Extra Mural Cemetery at Brighton.

References

1867 births 1916 deaths English illustrators Artists' Rifles soldiers Postcard artists British illustrators British children's book illustrators Magazine illustrators British artists Members of the Royal Society of British Artists British Army personnel of World War I {{UK-illustrator-stub