Person    | Female  Born 28/1/1874  Died 15/3/1948

Mary Tourtel

Categories: Art, Children, Literature

Author and artist. Born Mary Caldwell. She studied art and became a children's book illustrator. Her husband Herbert Tourtel, was news editor of the Daily Express. In 1920 the newspaper was looking to produce a comic strip as competition for those in other daily papers. Tourtel suggested his wife, and Rupert Bear was born. In later years, after her eyesight started fading, the illustrations were taken over by Alfred Bestall.

There are two other plaques for her in Canterbury.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Mary Tourtel

Commemorated ati

Mary Tourtel

{Above an image of Rupert Bear:} Mary Tourtel, 1874 - 1948, creator of Rupert...

Read More

Other Subjects

Mick Jones

Mick Jones

Mural painter.  Grew up in Coventry and Birmingham.  Son of Jack Jones, trade union leader.  He also produced trade union banners.  Lived in Swain's Lane, Highgate.  Death reported 10 August 2012.

Person, Art

2 memorials
Edward Ardizzone

Edward Ardizzone

Artist. Born Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone of French/Italian stock in Haiphong, Tonkin (modern day Vietnam) where his father was working at the time. He came to Britain in 1905, and eventually st...

Person, Art, Vietnam

1 memorial
Laurence Housman

Laurence Housman

Radical playwright, writer, illustrator, socialist, pacifist and founding member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage. The photo shows Housman in 1914. Brother to A. E. Housman. Studied art an...

Person, Art, Gender Issues, Theatre

1 memorial
Sir Alfred Munnings

Sir Alfred Munnings

Born Mendham, Suffolk. Artist specializing in paintings of horses and an opponent of ‘modernism’. The loss of an eye in 1898 did not impair his ability to paint. Knighted 1944. Died at home in ...

Person, Art

2 memorials
Royal Society of Arts

Royal Society of Arts

Founded by William Shipley as the "Society of Arts" in Rawthmell's Coffee House. They carried on meeting in coffee houses and taverns but as the society grew they needed more space. Shipley rented ...

Group, Art, Commerce

17 memorials

Previously viewed

James Morgan

James Morgan

Probably born in Carmarthen, south Wales. Architect and engineer. Employed by John Nash. Worked on the layout of Regent's Park and on the construction of the Regent's Canal as Chief Engineer of the...

Person, Architecture, Engineering, Wales

3 memorials
V2 rocket - Charterhouse Street

V2 rocket - Charterhouse Street

EC1, Charterhouse Street, 33, J. J. Mack Building

In 2022 Pavlos Clifton, Head of Development at Bywater Properties published an interesting page about the design of this memorial. This p...

3 subjects commemorated
Royal Arsenal Main Guardhouse

Royal Arsenal Main Guardhouse

SE18, Number One Street, Woolwich Arsenal

By 2017 two non-memorial plaques had appeared: a bronze rectangle in the portico, which reads: "The pedestrian access through the main gu...

1 subject commemorated
John Penfold

John Penfold

Surveyor and architect. Born John Wornham Penfold in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a founding member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is best known for designing the British hexagona...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design

2 memorials
Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Born Spain. Didn't like travelling, lived most of his live in France and died at home near Cannes. 1944 joined the Communist Party in France, lending his name and reputation to the cause. The Commu...

Person, Art, Seriously Famous, France, Spain

1 memorial