Herbert Sydney Foxwell (1890-1943) was born at Camberwell, London, on 20th April 1890. Foxwell studied fine art at The Addey & Stanhope College of Science, Art and Technology in Deptford. Working for Amalgamated Press (AP) his work appeared in 'The Favorite Comic', 'Comic Cuts', 'The Rainbow', 'The Monthly Playbox', 'Puck', 'Children's Fairy', 'Bubbles', 'Tiger Tim's Tales', and for The Daily Mail. He was particularly well-known and admired for his anthropomorphic work, the creation of animal characters with human traits, the most popular being Tiger Tim.

'Bubbles Comic (and the Children's Fairy)', was aimed at young children, a weekly comic which first appeared on April 16th 1921 starring 'Bubbles, The Boy Clown and His Performing Pets' on the cover. 'Bubbles Comic' was formerly 'The Sunday Fairy', published in 1919, then the first religious comic, soon changing its name to 'The Children's Fairy'.

Herbert Foxwell - original black and white artwork for the highly coloured front page of Bubbles comic - 22nd October 1932
(Herbert Sydney Foxwell initialled his work, HSF - see bottom right corner)

From 1923 H S Foxwell drew a series for Bubbles comic entitled 'Mrs Bunty's Boarding School', a cartoon strip that appeared regularly on the cover page. Mrs. Bunty's Boys were children who represented the League of Nations - Snowball (an Eskimo boy), Pompey (a Negro), Redwing (a Red Indian), Ching (a Chinese boy), Jackie (British) and Hans (a Dutch boy). The artworks were drawn using pen and ink, with Amalgamated Press staff being responsible for colouring in and adding captions beneath the drawings. Curiously, at the foot of the page sits a fairy (The Children's Fairy?) who blows soap bubbles which spread between the comic frames - and each week the image of the fairy appeared slightly altered, reflecting some element contained in the new Bunty Boy's set.

Suggested Reading
'The Best of British Comic Art', Alan Clark, Boxtree, 1989; pp 60-76 - an illustrated book focussing on six noteable English comic artists including Herbert Sydney Foxwell, with a chapter devoted to each.