MAY, PHIL (1864-1903), English caricaturist, born at Wortley, near Leeds on April 22, 1864, the son of an engineer. His father died when the child was nine years old, and at twelve he began to earn his living. Before he was 15 he acted as time keeper at a foundry, tried to become a jockey, and went on the stage at Scarborough and Leeds. At 17 he went to London with a sovereign in his pocket. He slept in the parks and streets until he got a job as designer to a theatrical costumier. He also drew posters and cartoons, and for about two years worked for the St. Stephen's Review when he went to Australia for his health. There he was attached for three years to the Sydney Bulletin, for which many of his best drawings were made. On his return he went to Paris by way of Rome. In 1892 he resumed his interrupted work for St. Stephen's Review. His studies of the London "gutter
snipe" and the coster-girl rapidly made him famous. His overflow ing sense of fun, his sympathy with his subjects, and his kindly wit were on a par with his artistic ability. The extraordinary economy of line which was characteristic of his drawings was the result of a laborious process which involved a number of prelim inary sketches. His later work included some excellent political portraits. He became a member of the staff of Punch in 1896, and in his later years his services were retained exclusively for Punch and the Graphic. He died on Aug. 5, 1903.
A selection of his drawings contributed to the periodical press and from Phil May's Annual and Phil May's Sketch Books, with a portrait and biography of the artist, entitled The Phil May Folio, appeared in I9o4