Percival Leigh

alt=Title page of a Victorian book, with hand-drawn lettering giving the full title: "Ye manners and customs of ye Englyshe: drawn from ye quick by Richard Doyle, to which be added some extracts from Mr. Pips his Diary, contributed by Percival Leigh" Percival Leigh (3 November 1813 – 24 October 1889), was an English satirist and comic writer, known as one of the founding contributors to the magazine Punch, where he was deputy to the editor, Mark Lemon. He collaborated with cartoonists including John Leech and Richard Doyle and was the last survivor of the original Punch contributors.

Life and career Leigh was born in Haddington, Scotland, and trained for the medical profession at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. There he became a close friend of the illustrator John Leech. They both passed their professional examinations and qualified as doctors in 1835, but found comic literature more to their liking.

Leigh was named deputy editor under Mark Lemon, but when the latter died in 1870 Leigh failed to succeed him, being beaten to the post by Shirley Brooks.

Leigh's best-known work appeared in book form in 1849: Ye manners and customs of ye Englyshe: drawn from ye quick by Richard Doyle, to which be added some extracts from Mr. Pips his Diary.

Leigh retired to Oak Cottage, Hammersmith, where he died on 24 October 1889. He was the last survivor of the early writers in Punch. His wife, Letitia Morrison, predeceased him.