Statue

Gladstone statue at Bow Church

Erection date: 1882

Inscription

{Incised in the granite plinth at the front:} Gladstone
{Incised in the granite plinth base at the rear:} This statue is the gift to the east of London of Theodore H. Bryant and was unveiled August 9th 1882 by Rt Honble Lord Carlingford.
{Rear of statue:} Albert.Bruce.Joy.Sc.1881

One of only a handful of London statues known to have been unveiled in the subject's lifetime. See Brockway for the others.

Site: Gladstone statue at Bow Church (1 memorial)

E3, Bow Road, Bow Church

When the statue was erected, the workers at the Bryant and May factory (the ‘matchgirls’, who were to strike in 1888 because of their appalling working conditions) believed that a shilling had been deducted from their wages as a contribution to its cost. Many of them went to the unveiling with stones and bricks concealed in their pockets and supposedly some cut their arms and let their blood trickle on the marble plinth. The outstretched hand of the statue has been daubed with red paint on several occasions as a tribute to the women. He now stands guard over some closed public lavatories.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Gladstone statue at Bow Church

Subjects commemorated i

William Ewart Gladstone

Born in Liverpool. Liberal Prime Minister four times. One of the Commissioner...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Gladstone statue at Bow Church

Created by i

Albert Bruce-Joy

Sculptor. Born Dublin. Exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1866. His prolifi...

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Theodore H. Bryant

Co-owner and director of the Bryant and May match factory.

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Lord Carlingford

Born Glyde, County Louth, Ireland as Chichester Samuel Parkinson-Fortescue. E...

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