Leonard Bentley
Royal Exchange
This is a Raphael Tuck & Sons “Glosso” postcard printed on very thick card, it shows the view from the Royal Exchange steps looking west towards the Bank junction, on the left is the Mansion House and on the right is the Bank of England. The postcard was posted in September 1907 and is probably just a year old at this point. The statue of the Duke of Wellington is by Francis Leggat Chantrey, it commemorates the Duke’s assistance to the City of London in ensuring a bill was passed allowing the rebuilding of London Bridge. The statue was unveiled on the 18th June 1844, the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, in the Duke’s presence. The smaller statue on the right is of “Temperance”, perched on a drinking fountain which was erected in July 1861 by the Metropolitan free drinking fountains association and paid for their chairman, Mr. S. Gurney M.P. The fountain was removed because of the building of the Central London Railway and reinstated in 1900. It was removed again in 1911 and placed near Blackfriars Bridge where it remains today.
Royal Exchange
This is a Raphael Tuck & Sons “Glosso” postcard printed on very thick card, it shows the view from the Royal Exchange steps looking west towards the Bank junction, on the left is the Mansion House and on the right is the Bank of England. The postcard was posted in September 1907 and is probably just a year old at this point. The statue of the Duke of Wellington is by Francis Leggat Chantrey, it commemorates the Duke’s assistance to the City of London in ensuring a bill was passed allowing the rebuilding of London Bridge. The statue was unveiled on the 18th June 1844, the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, in the Duke’s presence. The smaller statue on the right is of “Temperance”, perched on a drinking fountain which was erected in July 1861 by the Metropolitan free drinking fountains association and paid for their chairman, Mr. S. Gurney M.P. The fountain was removed because of the building of the Central London Railway and reinstated in 1900. It was removed again in 1911 and placed near Blackfriars Bridge where it remains today.