George Biles (1 July 1900 – 7 December 1987)[1] was a British sign painter and lettering artist who worked in Bridport, Dorset, in south-west England.[2][3] Biles ran a signpainting business in Bridport from 1924 to a few days before his death aged 87, and painted a large number of pub signs, murals, theatre backcloths, charters and other work.[4][1][5]
Painted signs are a long-standing tradition of British pubs, but whereas most pub sign painters are poorly documented or anonymous, Biles' work received considerable attention by the end of his very long career, with a profile on television news,[6] in a book on pubs and in German media.[7][8][9][10][11] After his death, one of his main clients, the Bridport brewery Palmers, preserved 65 of his signs in storage and his friend and fellow signpainter Ken Allen saved the contents of his studio, meaning that his career is well documented.[1][12]