Sir Algernon Edward West (1832-1921) Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue: “Algy”

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: HM Revenue & Customs, 100 Parliament Street

Sir Algernon Edward West, who resigned as Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue in 1892, was caricatured in 'Vanity Fair' that year. The accompanying text explained that West’s Christian name was shortened to ‘Algy’ by members of the Civil Service, a term ‘not necessarily expressive of… affection.’

Leslie Ward was born into a family of painters. His mother and father were historical genre painters Edward Matthew Ward and Henrietta Ward. He was educated at Eton and then entered the studio of architect Sydney Smirke. However, he abandoned his architectural training to become apprenticed to W. P. Frith. In 1873 J. E. Millais sent some of his drawings to Thomas Gibson Bowles, founder and owner of ‘Vanity Fair’. Bowles immediately hired Ward, whose first ‘Vanity Fair’ caricature appeared in 1873 under the ‘nom de crayon’ Spy. Ward also painted portraits and made architectural drawings, exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy and Grosvenor Gallery. He was knighted in 1918. Ward died in 1922 and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

People

Sir Algernon Edward West (1832 - 1921)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, moustache, man, 19th century costume, frock coat, trousers, shoe, civil servant, caricature

Materials & Techniques

lithograph, colour lithograph

Artist

Sir Leslie Matthew ("Spy") Ward (1851 - 1922)

Title

Sir Algernon Edward West (1832-1921) Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue: “Algy”

Date

13 August 1892

Medium

Colour lithograph

Dimensions

height: 37.20 cm, width: 22.20 cm

Acquisition

Transferred from HM Revenue and Customs, December 2012

Provenance

Inland Revenue, Somerset House; transferred to GAC 2012

GAC number

15668