John Leech, who seems to have been the man who popularised the change of the original meaning of the word "cartoon" , was born off Stamford Street in Southwark 200 years ago today. He is probably best known today for his illustrations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but he was also a major contributor to Punch magazine. His archive shows a conservative bent, inveighing against free entry of foreigners, bans on smoking and free trade among other things. To his credit, he also attacked the exploitation of poor workers (though he seems to have been against trade unions) and the pollution of the Thames, with its attendant diseases.
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