Gillray, James (1757-1815), English caricaturist, one of the fathers of political cartooning. His satirical caricatures followed in the tradition of William Hogarth but were more overtly political than Hogarth's generalized social commentary. His cartoons—which lampooned the court, the government, and in particular the royal family—were biting, witty, and often outrageous. Characterized by pitiless exaggeration of the personalities and physical features of their subjects, they set the style for later English political cartooning.