Walter Holt (1891-1951)

"Robert Rabbit", The Chick's Own

Walter James Holt was born in St. James, Northampton, in the third quarter of 1891, the son of Henry Holt, a bootmaker, and his wife Lydia, née Minards. By 1901 the family were living in Cardiff, and by 1911 Walter was working as a black and white artist for James Henderson & Sons' comics. After Hendersons were taken over by the Amalgamated Press in 1920, he specialised in nursery comics for many years, and continued to work into the 1950s. Strips he drew included:

• "Gip and his Giraffe" (1911-14) for Comic Life
• "Parkin is Potty on Pictures" (1914) for Lot-o'-Fun
• Various strips for Sparks and The Big Comic
• "Robert Rabbit" (1920-57) for The Chicks' Own
• "Nannie and Nibs" (1921) for Tiger Tim's Weekly
• "Betty and Bunnyboy" (1922) for Playtime
• "Film Fan Fred" (1948) for The Comet

He died in Cardiff in the second quarter of 1951, aged 59.

References

• Alan Clark, Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, The British Library, 1998, p. 80
• Denis Gifford, Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, Longman, 1987