Peggy Fortnum

Margaret Emily Noel Fortnum (23 December 1919 – 28 March 2016) While in the military she sustained serious injuries when she was run over by a truck, requiring a prolonged period of recovery.

After her recovery from injury she attended the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. Fortnum's first commission was for Dorcas the Wooden Doll by Mary Fielding Moore, published in 1944. In 1958 she illustrated Paddington's debut the first edition of A Bear Called Paddington and her original illustrations were used by HarperCollins in its 1998 reissue of A Bear Called Paddington, which celebrated the character's 40th anniversary.

Although her pen-and-ink drawings of Paddington were done in black and white, some of them have been coloured by other artists, including her step-granddaughter Caroline Nuttall-Smith. Fortnum resided in Essex, England, and died in March 2016 at the age of 96. She suffered from dementia. She was survived by her two nephews, the film historian Kevin Brownlow and the sculptor John Fortnum.