Statue

Erected to commemorate a recently dead man, this was, unknown to anyone at the time and by sheer chance, a statue of his mother, and, also unknown to anyone, a statue which he owned. Here's how that happened (as far as we know it):

This statue, originally titled 'Queen' represents Queen Victoria and was approved by Prince Albert in October 1861. It was intended as the central part of a memorial in South Kensington to the 1851 Great Exhibition, but Prince Albert died at the end of 1861 and Queen Victoria had his statue placed on that site instead. Another use had to be found for 'Queen'.

Two versions of 'Queen' were displayed at the 1862 International Exhibition (held, May-November, on a site now occupied by the Natural History Museum): one, in bronzed plaster, was at the main entrance; the other, cast in bronze by Elkington using the electrotype method, was in the Royal Horticultural Gardens behind the exhibition building, near what is now the middle of Imperial College Road. We think the plaster one may only ever have been temporary and, being less robust, probably is truly lost.

The exhibition's memorial committee wrote to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in January 1862 making it clear that the bronze statue, currently "being produced in bronze", was his (presumably inherited from his recently deceased father, Prince Albert). But at the close of the International Exhibition in November the Prince did not pitch up to collect the statue and it stayed in place for some years. Queen Victoria saw it there in 1864 and evidence suggests it was still there in 1881. It had to be gone by 1887 when the Imperial Institute was built on the site. But then ... the statue disappears from sight (as far as the records show) until 1911.

Sydney Simmonds gave Friary Park to the people of Frien Barnet and it opened to the public 7 May 1910 with rather muted celebrations since King Edward VII had died the day before. On 4 February 1911 a local paper reported on the arrival of this statue in the Park, a few days previously, named 'Peace' and donated by Simmonds, as a memorial to the late king, who was known as the Peacemaker. Despite her title she arrived brandishing a spear, in the hand which, back in her South Ken days, held a sceptre of state.

All our information comes from a terrific article in 3rd Dimension or this link. That describes the investigation that discovered this story. Both these links are now dead; sadly the PMSA organisation was wound up in the summer of 2020.

But a puzzle still remains: sometime during 1881-7 the statue was removed from its position in South Ken and kept somewhere only to reappear in 1911 in the possession of Simmonds. For a period of 25 or 30 years the statue's whereabouts are unknown and during that time it seems to have lost its identity, for surely, if Simmonds had known it was a portrait of Queen Victoria, he would have mentioned it? Was the sceptre of state removed deliberately to dissociate the statue from the monarchy? 

March 2022: We understand that the statue has been removed for restoration, confirmed by Nick McKie of the Friern Barnet & District Local History Society.

September 2022: Nick McKie reported: "Now returned from major clean. Spear which she had held since being donated to the park in 1911 now replaced with orb and dove of peace so as to return original (1862) state."  Thanks Nick.