Paul Hardy, was an English illustrator, best known for his regular illustrations in The Strand Magazine, his painting of Canterbury Pilgrims (1903) and for his drawings associated with the serials of the writer Samuel Walkey (1871–1953). Paul was the eldest child of David and Emily Hardy. Paul's father was also an artist, as was his grandfather James Hardy senior and his uncles James Hardy junior and Heywood Hardy, all from an old Yorkshire family. All Paul's siblings, Norman, Evelyn and Dorothy Hardy, were illustrators.

Samuel Walkey was an English bank inspector, who used his spare time when travelling to write, and became a prolific author of boy's adventure fiction. Walkey wrote at least sixteen novels and hundreds of magazine stories. He contributed stories to magazines for more than 40 years.