'Algy' — The Hon. Algernon Henry Bourke

Ward presents Bourke as a figure of comfortable Establishment bulk: a heavyset man in full evening dress — white bow-tie, watch-chain, silk-lapelled overcoat worn open — carrying a top hat at his side with an air of proprietorial ease. The caption reads simply 'Algy', the familiar diminutive signalling insider warmth rather than satirical distance. Bourke was a prominent London club-man and racecourse proprietor, connected by birth to the Earls of Mayo, and the caricature flatters more than it bites — the exaggerated girth and florid complexion are present but affectionate. It belongs squarely to Spy's gentler mode of Society portraiture, lampooning class confidence rather than challenging it.