McLachlan, Edward b. 1940

Ed McLachlan original cartoon artwork.

In 1961, Ed McLachlan sent a scrapbook of cartoons to Punch, and they bought one for seven guineas. McLachlan remembered thinking "Seven guineas for an hour's work? Gee, there's got to be something wrong here." Three weeks later, when they took 7 cartoons, he decided he must be a cartoonist. He became a regular contributor to Punch, including covers. In 1965, McLachlan went freelance recalling that "I built up my work through making myself a nuisance, banging on agencies' doors - persistence, really." In 1966 he began drawing a series of political cartoons for the Sunday Mirror, under the heading "McLachlan's View". In 1967 he also began contributing to Private Eye, and from 1967 to 1970 he was a lecturer in graphics at Leicester College of Art. When his Sunday Mirror series ended in 1970, he transferred to the Evening Standard as political cartoonist. In 1972 he began drawing a series of pocket cartoons for the Daily Mirror, entitled "Insiders", which lasted until 1974.