Water Rat No. 671
Cartoonist and Designer of Water Rats Ball Brochure Covers
Roy Ullyett OBE was one of Britain’s most distinguished sporting cartoonists and caricaturists, enjoying a remarkable career that spanned almost seven decades. Within the Grand Order of Water Rats, however, he also left behind a particularly important artistic legacy through his illustrations and designs for the Order’s Annual Ball souvenir brochures. The Water Rats’ Roll of Honour records him as Water Rat No. 671, describing him as a “Cartoonist - designer of Ball Brochure covers.”
Royden Herbert Frederick Ullyett was born in Leytonstone, Essex, on 16 March 1914 and grew up largely in Southend-on-Sea. His talent for caricature appeared at an early age. While attending Earls Colne Grammar School he drew cartoons of his teachers, and at just thirteen years old had one of his drawings published in the school magazine.
After leaving school in 1930, Ullyett briefly worked in the art department of a commercial printing company before setting out as a freelance cartoonist. His first professional drawing was sold to the Southend Times in 1932. He subsequently produced caricatures of theatre and music hall performers for The Era, one of the leading theatrical publications of its day.
In 1934 he joined the London Evening Star as its sports cartoonist. During the Second World War he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, later becoming instantly recognisable himself through his imposing height, handlebar moustache and ever-present pipe. Following demobilisation he returned to newspaper work, also contributing to the Sunday Pictorial under the pseudonym Berryman.
Ullyett’s career reached another level in 1953 when he joined the Daily Express as its sports cartoonist. His distinctive drawings captured the personalities and humour of British sport, particularly football, boxing, horse racing, golf and cricket. His caricatures exaggerated their subjects without becoming cruel, and many of the sporting personalities he drew became personal friends. His work became a familiar part of British newspaper life for generations of readers.
He was renowned for the speed at which he worked, often producing finished cartoons against extremely tight newspaper deadlines using brush and Indian ink. A small sparrow frequently appeared in his drawings, providing its own humorous commentary on the scene. In 1966 Ullyett became a founder member of the British Cartoonists’ Association. By the time he finally retired from the Daily Express in the late 1990s, it was estimated that he had produced around 25,000 published cartoons.
Alongside his extraordinary professional career, Roy was a devoted supporter of charitable causes. By selling his original artwork he was credited with raising more than £1 million for charity, and his charitable work was recognised when he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1989.
His association with the Grand Order of Water Rats formed an important part of that charitable life. Roy became not only a Brother Rat but ultimately one of the relatively small number of Life Companions of the Order. His artistic talent was put to wonderful use for the Water Rats, producing caricatures and artwork connected with the Order and designing a number of the beautifully illustrated Annual Ball brochure covers which today form part of its visual history.
Roy also established a lovely Water Rats tradition by producing a caricature of the incoming King Rat, which was presented to him at his coronation. His work therefore recorded, in his own unmistakable style, many of the personalities who helped shape the Order through the twentieth century.
Roy Ullyett died in Southend-on-Sea on 20 October 2001, aged 87. He left behind an extraordinary body of work covering British sport, entertainment and public life, but for the Grand Order of Water Rats his legacy has an additional significance. His drawings captured something at the very heart of the Order: humour, personality, friendship and charitable endeavour.
Today, his surviving Water Rats illustrations and Ball brochure covers are more than simply wonderful cartoons. They are pieces of the Order’s history, preserving through Roy’s pen the characters and traditions of generations of Water Rats.
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