SILSDEN art historian Colin Neville relates the story of Silsden cartoonist Barry Throup.

Catching tuberculosis was an ill-wind for Barry Throup. His enforced stay in hospital gave him time to do what he always wanted to do – become a cartoonist. 

Barry was born 1939 in Silsden; his father was a local printer.

After he left local school, Barry worked in local manufacturing companies, but in his late teens he enlisted with the Royal Air Force, and it was during his RAF service that he caught tuberculosis.

During his convalescence he began to develop an interest in drawing, and particularly cartooning.

When he recovered, he left the RAF and went back to work with local engineering companies, but slowly he began to turn his hobby into a freelance career. He started to sell his cartoons at first to local newspapers and gradually moved out to reach wider readerships.

Eventually he became one of the best-known cartoonists in Britain with work appearing in regional and national newspapers, as well as in popular magazines.

Once his income from sales of his cartoons exceeded his wages from local employment, he devoted all his time to drawing cartoons on commission or to offer newspapers and magazines. 

He told a Telegraph & Argus journalist in 1978: “Discipline is vital. There is no question of me getting up in the morning and deciding I cannot be bothered.”

He steered clear of political cartoons and the more savage forms of humour, going instead for more wry and gentler forms of wit. 

He said: “I do not draw cartoons to offend people. There is plenty of scope for humour without drawing things which upset people.”

One of his proudest moments was when Peter Scott, naturalist and writer, asked him to contribute to a book of cartoons with a wildlife and ecology theme.

Barry was a popular figure in Silsden. In 1985 he died suddenly of a heart attack in the town and his funeral at the Steeton Church was packed with local people. 

His older brother, Noel, also became a successful and talented sculptor, painter, print-maker and mural artist.

* Barry’s story comes from Colin’s website notjusthockney.info which chronicles the lives and works of many artists from Bradford district.