Bust

Knightsbridge - 6 - Salisbury

Erection date: 1905

Lea Cornthwaite suggested this might be the Duke of Cambridge. Stephen Brasher suggested Lord Salisbury.   Comparing pictures of the contenders it’s the chin-beard, or lack of it, that convinces us it's Salisbury.

Site: Knightsbridge - 6 busts (6 memorials)

SW1, Knightsbridge, 55 - 91

This huge building, Grade 2 listed and in need of a clean, is actually 18 buildings behind a unifying facade designed by W. D. Caroe, in red brick with stone dressings in an eclectic Queen Anne/Flemish style. 1902 - 5. Built as a mansion block but unusually there were seven developers who designed their own segments behind the facade.

A 2010 planning application contains a few drawings and early photographs but there is no mention of these busts, numbered here left to right.  

When we published these 6 busts we were pretty confident with our identification of heads 1 and 2 but were struggling to identify the others.  Readers quickly sent in some helpful suggestions, readers more familiar with the faces of celebrities from that period than we are.  So we have corrected our identifications, but if you think we still have it wrong please let us know.

The second floor corner at Wilton Place carries a rather splendid royal crest with the top-most lion looking more like a lap-dog.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Knightsbridge - 6 - Salisbury

Subjects commemorated i

Lord Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Conservative Prime Minister: 1885-6; 1886-92; 1895-1902. Too many names: Robe...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Knightsbridge - 6 - Salisbury

Also at this site i

Knightsbridge - 3 - Roberts

Knightsbridge - 3 - Roberts

Stephen Brasher suggested that this is Field Marshal Lord Roberts and, having...

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Knightsbridge - 4 - Kitchener

Knightsbridge - 4 - Kitchener

Stalin?  Can't be - for so many reasons, one being that he didn't look like t...

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Knightsbridge - 5 - Temple

Knightsbridge - 5 - Temple

We original thought this was Gladstone (who had died only a few years before)...

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Nearby Memorials

Charles I - beheaded

Charles I - beheaded

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In about 1945 Hedley Hope-Nicholson, a Charles I fan and central member of the Society of King Charles the Martyr, found three lead busts...

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Marcus Garvey - Willesden Library

Marcus Garvey - Willesden Library

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The bust was unveiled on Garvey's 129th birthday, and is now inside a glass case in the museum at the library, but we cannot discover who...

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Queen Mother - Grocers' Hall

Queen Mother - Grocers' Hall

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Artnet shows that a copy of this bust, by Nemon, was for sale by auction at some point. The Worshipful Company of Grocers' website mentio...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Nash at Church of All Souls

Nash at Church of All Souls

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This simple spire was heavily criticised in its day, even sparking a Parliamentary debate.

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Colonial Office - B01 - Henry II

Colonial Office - B01 - Henry II

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Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators