Name

William Heath

Other names

PRY, Paul [pseudonym]

Culture

English

Gender

Male

Birth date

1795

Birth place

England View on map Close map

Death date

7 April 1840

Death Place

Hampstead, England View on map Close map

Occupations

Caricaturist | Printmaker

Summary

(brother of Henry HEATH). Worked: England. Etchings, Lithographs

Context

Australia

Biography

William Heath (1795 - 1840), was a Captain of the Dragoons, prior to becoming a caricaturist and book illustrator. In the years 1827-29 he used the pseudonym Paul Pry. This was the name of a character in an 1825 comedy by John Poole whose name came to denote any inquisitive person. Heath used the name in conjunction with the image of a small man holding a walking stick in a lower corner of his prints. From 1828 when other artists (such as Sharpshooter) also began to also use this image, Heath signed his name in full.

Heath produced at least one caricature of Australian interest – New panorama / A startling interrogation. Much of his work was published by the Thomas McLean who also published Australian material by other artists
 

Last Updated

04 Jul 2012