Francis Ernest Hiley (1878-1965) was an illustrator of children's books. He was the brother of Wilfred Hiley, the forest economist, who appeared in the post of 18th June 2020.
Francis only had a minimal education but art and literature were his main interests. As a boy he was awarded a number of certificates for drawing, often reported in the local newspapers. In 1899 he was awarded a three year scholarship to the Royal College of Art. He was skilled in several disciplines and held a number of teaching posts in London. In 1913 he was able to abandon teaching in order to work full-time as an illustrator. In the First World War he served with The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.
In 1923 he began contributing to The Strand Magazine. The illustration below was for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction short story 'The Disintegration Machine' published in The Strand Magazine in 1929.
During the Second World War Francis worked as a draughtsman at the Bristol Aeroplane Company.
Francis signed his work Francis E. Hiley, F.E. Hiley or simply F.E.H. He was a prolific, accomplished and popular artist.
With thanks to Steve Holland for permission to use some material from his Bear Alley Blog.
