Ward, Leslie ("Spy") (Sir)

1851

1922

Leslie Ward was the son of Edward Matthew Ward (q.v.) and Mary Ada Ward, (no relation to her husband, but grand-daughter of the artist, James Ward). Leslie was sent to Eton. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1868, while still at school, and periodically thereafter until 1883. From 1873 he formed a close working relationship with the periodical “Vanity Fair”, and for the rest of his life provided illustrations for that magazine in the form of cartoon drawings of contemporary celebrities. These drawings were produced in the form of coloured lithographs under the pseudonym of ‘Spy,’ frequently to be cut out, framed, and used as decoration in countless restaurants, clubs and common rooms.