Leonard Bentley
New Bridge Street
This is a Magic Lantern Slide showing the view looking east in New Bridge Street, City of London, it shows the statue of Queen Victoria who looks roughly west along Victoria Embankment. The sculpture is by Charles Bell Birch who is known for his many London statues, he also sculpted the Griffin on the Temple Bar Memorial outside the Royal Courts of Justice. He was born in Brixton but as a child moved with his parents to Berlin where he studied at the Berlin Royal Academy. As a result of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, he was commissioned to create a statue of Queen Victoria by the Maharana of Udaipur, Futteh Singh, to stand outside the new Victoria Hall in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The statue was made of Carrara marble and the plinth was locally made to the design and model provided by Mr. Birch. The statue was unveiled in late 1889 by Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales who was on a tour of India and Burma. After India’s independence the statue was removed to Victoria Hall where it remains and was replaced by a statue of Gandhi using the same plinth. Victoria Hall is now known as the Saraswati Bhawan Library. The statue in New Bridge Street was given to the City Corporation by Sir Alfred Seale Haslam, he was an Engineer and former Mayor of Derby and Newcastle-Under-Lyme and later M.P. for Newcastle-Under-Lyme. He invented an improved Ammonia compressor used in refrigeration ships which transported frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand. Sir Alfred was a generous man because not only did he give this statue to the City of London, he gave the same statue to Derby and one to Newcastle-Under-Lyme. There were seven more casts made at the Thames Ditton Foundry owned at the time by Moore and Company. The foundry was famous throughout the 19th Century for producing statues for which there was a great demand. One of the other seven casts was sent to Australia where it was erected in Victoria Square, Adelaide, South Australia. In this case the statue was given to the city by local Brewer, Parliamentarian and Philanthropist, Sir Edwin Thomas Smith. He insisted that the Copper and tin to make the Bronze casting come from Australia and both metals were obtained from the Wallaroo mine near the town of Kadina on the Yorke peninsular. That leaves six castings, if you know where they are or what became of them, please feel free. The City of London statue was unveiled on Tuesday 21st July 1896 by the Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria’s uncle and head of the British Army for 50 years despite being born in Germany, he was known to the licentious soldiery as “The German Sausage”. The 1st London Volunteer Rifle Corps (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade) were in attendance, the Duke was their Colonel-in-Chief, together with the Lord Mayor of London and other Corporation worthies. The City of London police constable is standing by to direct traffic when needed, succeeding generations of City police did the same duty until February 1937 when traffic lights were installed, and the statue was moved several yards to accommodate them. I think that the statue may have been moved since then, if it has, then not by much.
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New Bridge Street
This is a Magic Lantern Slide showing the view looking east in New Bridge Street, City of London, it shows the statue of Queen Victoria who looks roughly west along Victoria Embankment. The sculpture is by Charles Bell Birch who is known for his many London statues, he also sculpted the Griffin on the Temple Bar Memorial outside the Royal Courts of Justice. He was born in Brixton but as a child moved with his parents to Berlin where he studied at the Berlin Royal Academy. As a result of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, he was commissioned to create a statue of Queen Victoria by the Maharana of Udaipur, Futteh Singh, to stand outside the new Victoria Hall in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The statue was made of Carrara marble and the plinth was locally made to the design and model provided by Mr. Birch. The statue was unveiled in late 1889 by Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales who was on a tour of India and Burma. After India’s independence the statue was removed to Victoria Hall where it remains and was replaced by a statue of Gandhi using the same plinth. Victoria Hall is now known as the Saraswati Bhawan Library. The statue in New Bridge Street was given to the City Corporation by Sir Alfred Seale Haslam, he was an Engineer and former Mayor of Derby and Newcastle-Under-Lyme and later M.P. for Newcastle-Under-Lyme. He invented an improved Ammonia compressor used in refrigeration ships which transported frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand. Sir Alfred was a generous man because not only did he give this statue to the City of London, he gave the same statue to Derby and one to Newcastle-Under-Lyme. There were seven more casts made at the Thames Ditton Foundry owned at the time by Moore and Company. The foundry was famous throughout the 19th Century for producing statues for which there was a great demand. One of the other seven casts was sent to Australia where it was erected in Victoria Square, Adelaide, South Australia. In this case the statue was given to the city by local Brewer, Parliamentarian and Philanthropist, Sir Edwin Thomas Smith. He insisted that the Copper and tin to make the Bronze casting come from Australia and both metals were obtained from the Wallaroo mine near the town of Kadina on the Yorke peninsular. That leaves six castings, if you know where they are or what became of them, please feel free. The City of London statue was unveiled on Tuesday 21st July 1896 by the Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria’s uncle and head of the British Army for 50 years despite being born in Germany, he was known to the licentious soldiery as “The German Sausage”. The 1st London Volunteer Rifle Corps (City of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade) were in attendance, the Duke was their Colonel-in-Chief, together with the Lord Mayor of London and other Corporation worthies. The City of London police constable is standing by to direct traffic when needed, succeeding generations of City police did the same duty until February 1937 when traffic lights were installed, and the statue was moved several yards to accommodate them. I think that the statue may have been moved since then, if it has, then not by much.
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