Theresa Courtenay "Tessa" Beaver (née Theobald; 30 March 1932 – 9 May 2018) was a British printmaker, painter and illustrator.
[1] The Ayrton family originated in Yorkshire, though Tessa Theobald descended from a branch long-resident in Cheshire.
Her forebear Edward Ayrton was mayor of Ripon in 1760, and laid the foundations for the family's subsequent prominence.
[2] Her career began, under her birth name of Tessa Theobald, as an illustrator and designer of book jackets.
She became the art editor of children's books at Oxford University Press and later at Thomas Nelson.