Georgina Bowers

Georgina Harriett Bowers (1836–1912) was a Victorian comic illustrator, and one of the first female humourists to be acknowledged professionally. As a child she had a personal connection with animals, and later in life realistic drawings of horses and dogs became common features in her artwork. Bowers is noted for her work as an illustrator for Punch, though she published many of her own comics as well.

Early life Georgina Bowers was born in 1836 in London, England, where her father, George Bowers, was the Rector of St Paul's, Covent Garden, and later became the Dean of Manchester. Her mother died before Bowers got to know her.

As a child, Bowers loved country life and animals, which would both become recurring subjects of her later work. From a young age she took an interest in drawing dogs and horses, though her governess discouraged it, insisting instead that she focus on needlework and reading.

By 1876, Bowers was designing nearly all of the hunting subjects for Punch, and spent her days with her dogs or on horseback, keeping a sketchbook in her saddlebag at all times so that she could draw the animals and scenery around her. Between 1862 and 1889 she illustrated a number of sporting and nature books including "Canters in Crampshire", c. 1880, "Mr Crop's Harriers" from c. 1880, and "Tales for Sportsmen" in 1883. Other works illustrated by Bowers in the 1880s included "A Month in the Midlands", "Notes From a Hunting Box" and "Across Country". The illustrations for A Loose Rein by Elim Henry D'Avigdor (1887) The illustrations for Castles and Their Heroes by Barbara Hutton (1868)