Anton Beryl Antonia Botterill Yeoman (née Thompson) (1907-70) Harold Underwood Thompson (1911-96)
The daughter of an English rancher, Antonia Thompson was born in Australia on 24 July 1907. Her brother, Harold was born, following the family’s return to England, in West Kirby, Cheshire on 9 April 1911. Though Antonia lost two fingers of her right hand in her early teens, she learned to write and draw with her left. She attended the Royal Academy Schools (1928-30), and also studied for a year under Steven Spurrier before working as a freelance commercial artist. Harold studied life drawing at Heatherley’s School of Art (1931-32), lettering at St Martin’s School (1934) and printing at Bolt Court and, like his sister, took lessons in illustration from Spurrier.
He taught himself the fundaments of cartooning, and then contributed to the Bystander (1935-37) and Night & Day (1937).
In their early work, Antonia and Harold had made separate use of the pseudonym ‘Botterill’, one of Antonia’s actual names. In 1937, they began to work together to produce advertising posters and show cards, and also cartoons, which they signed ‘Anton’, whether jointly created (as were those in Punch) or entirely drawn by Harold (as were those in the Evening Standard). During the Second World War, Harold distinguished himself in the Royal Navy, while Antonia continued to produce ‘Anton’ cartoons. After the war, she was again joined by her brother, and together they contributed numerous cartoons to Lilliput, London Opinion, Men Only and, of course, Punch. In 1949, he became a senior director of Lonsdale international advertising and marketing organisation. She then worked alone as both a cartoonist and an illustrator of books. She died on 30 June 1970. Harold died on 21 November 1996.
