Paul Pry’s Noble Duke

The Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was, along with Napoleon, one of the most caricatured figures of the early nineteenth century. Immensely popular as the hero of Waterloo and the Peninsular Wars, he later lost public favour during his period as prime minister and mobs of angry Londoners smashed the windows of his home, Apsley House, at Hyde Park Corner. ‘Old Nosey’, as he was known to his troops, was a gift to cartoonists because of his height and prominent aquiline nose, and his long public career meant that he was drawn by two generations of artists from James Gillray’s follower Charles Williams in 1808 to John Doyle and the artists of Punch (founded in 1841). However, some of the best colour caricatures of Wellington were produced by a short-lived artist who signed himself ‘Paul Pry’ after the comic theatrical busybody. His real name was William Heath.