J. M. Staniforth | |
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| Born | Joseph Morewood Staniforth c. 1864 Gloucester, England |
| Died | 21 December 1921(1921-12-21) (aged 56–57) |
| Known for | |
Joseph Morewood Staniforth (c. 1864 – 21 December 1921) was aWelsheditorial cartoonist best known for his work in theWestern Mail,Evening Express and Sunday weekly theNews of the World.[1] Staniforth has been described as "...the most important visual commentator on Welsh affairs ever to work in the country."[2]
Staniforth was born inGloucester inc. 1864, the son of a Sheffield tool repairer named Joseph Staniforth.[3] His family moved toCardiff in South Wales in 1870, and after leaving school at 15, Staniforth trained as a lithographic printer for theWestern Mail before becoming an art reviewer.[4] A promising young artist, he studied at the Cardiff School of Art, which was run from rooms above theRoyal Arcade in the town centre.[5] His classmates included the sculptorGoscombe John.[5] Staniforth originally worked primarily in paint, but slowly moved from brush work to inks where he found a talent for cartoons and caricature.[5] He started publishing cartoons in 1889 after being spotted by theWestern Mail's editorHenry Lascelles Carr.[3][6]
His work, with which I have been familiar from the beginning of my political career, has always given me great pleasure, and I still recall with interest those early cartoons in which he satirised me – cartoons always free from malice and from any suggestion of coarseness, and marked by a rare quality of subtle humour.
Usually published in theWestern Mail, Staniforth's drawings and cartoons covered political and social unrest in Wales from 1890 through to theFirst World War of 1914-1918. Although his cartoons followed editorial lines, with editor Carr appearing in several stating his own opinion, Staniforth himself veered more towards the more tolerantLiberal-Labour movement and would attack both capitalist coal owners and the socialist unions.
In 1911 the thenChancellor of the Exchequer,David Lloyd George, commissioned Staniforth to produce a piece of artwork to commemorate the investiture ofPrince Edward asPrince of Wales atCaernarfon Castle. Lloyd George kept the artwork, in pencil and watercolour, and hung it in his study.[8]
Staniforth was replaced at theWestern Mail byLeslie Illingworth upon his death in 1921.
One of Staniforth's more famous creations was "Dame Wales" (orMam Cymru), a middle-aged woman dressed in the Welsh national costume, along withWelsh hat, who would embody Wales in a similar way that other cartoonists would useBritannia to symbolise the United Kingdom in general or theBritish Empire.[5] Staniforth stated in a 1906 interview that he felt that Wales needed a specific symbol as a counterpart toJohn Bull who was used in cartoons as another representation of the United Kingdom in general, and after discussions with a colleague, Staniforth created what he believed would be a characteristic Welsh dame.[5] Dame Wales was normally the voice of reason in Staniforth's cartoons and is often pictured attempting to discourage others from making decisions that would damage the country. When a spoken caption was required, Dame Wales would often be depicted talking in a working classvalleysvernacular, which stands out against the language used by the more educated figures of authority she challenges. Other cartoonists would later take up the figure of Dame Wales, and would keep the same image in their work.[5]
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