Sam Hunter (1858–1939) was a Canadian cartoonist and writer who worked for four Toronto newspapers. His work displayed his support for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

and criticized Liberals such as

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

, as well as

French Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and Americans.

Peter Desbarats Peter Hullett Desbarats, OC (July 2, 1933 – February 11, 2014) was a Canadian author, playwright and journalist.

and

Terry Mosher Christopher Terry Mosher, (born 11 November 1942) is a Canadian political cartoonist for the ''Montreal Gazette''. He draws under the name Aislin, a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawing ...

described Hunter as "a great and gentle caricaturist".

Biography

As the snow of concealment disappears 1908

Hunter was born in Millbrook in

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

in March 1859, and first started showing his talent for caricature during his time as a schoolboy. He initially followed his father John Hunter's footsteps to become a Clerk of the Division Court at Millbrook. As a young man, he travelled through Western Canada, and produced a series of prints concerning Indians and western life. His first published work as an illustrator appeared in 1882, with his first political cartoons commissioned by

John Wilson Bengough John Wilson Bengough (; 7 April 1851 – 2 October 1923) was one of Canada's earliest cartoonists, as well as an editor, publisher, writer, poet, entertainer, and politician. Bengough is best remembered for his political cartoons in '' ...

for the satirical magazine '' Grip'' in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He was firmly established in Toronto by 1885. Together with Bengough and other cartoonists, he helped to popularize the

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

Johnny Canuck Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon hero and superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869 and was later re-invented as a Second World War action hero in 1942. The Vancouver Canucks, a professional ice hockey team in the National Ho ...

as a

national personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations ...

of Canada. He worked for the ''Toronto World'' newspaper for twenty years beginning in 1897. His work displayed his support for the

and criticized Liberals such as

, and Americans. Many of Hunter's cartoons were inspired by

William Findlay Maclean William Findlay Maclean (August 10, 1854 – December 7, 1929) was a Canadian politician. Born in Ancaster, Wentworth County, Ontario, the son of John Maclean and Isabella Findlay, he was educated at the Hamilton Public School and the Univ ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Hunter moved to '' The Globe'' where his satirical targets included French-Canadian opposition to conscription. These cartoons had a noticeable anti-Laurier and anti-Quebec bias. After the war, he moved to the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. He had also worked for the ''Toronto News'' For three months every summer, Hunter stayed at "Pepacton", a cottage on the McCracken's Shore of Stony Lake, which became a gathering place for artists, writers and musicians. He wrote about the area for the ''

Peterborough Examiner ''The Peterborough Examiner'' is a newspaper that services Peterborough, Ontario and area. The paper started circulation in 1847, and is currently owned by Torstar and operated by its Metroland division. Between 1942 and 1955, it was edited by Can ...

'' in 1895. Hunter retired in early 1937, and died in Toronto in December 1939.

References

Works cited

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Sam 1858 births 1939 deaths Canadian cartoonists Artists from Toronto