William Giles Baxter was one of the pioneers in early British comics. He is especially known for his work in 'Ally Sloper's Half Holiday', a weekly magazine that was first published on 3 May 1884. Baxter presumably came from Ireland, and moved with his family to America when he was young. He eventually returned to England, where he was an apprentice to architect Alfred Darbyshire.
He became noticed with his lithographed pictures called 'Sketches & Scenes of Buxton' in 1879. He was a staff artist on the Manchester satirical weekly Comus (later Momus, 1878-83). Baxter moved to London and contributed to The Sketch and eventually Judy and Ally Sloper's Half Holiday. William Baxter was one of the four principal 'Ally Sloper' artists, together with creator Charles H. Ross, Marie Duval and W. F. Thomas. He drew the character for the first time in issue 13, in July 1884. Baxter died of TBC at the age of 32, in 1888.