London statues of women

10 (lesser known) memorials to women in London – 10. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst…

by exploringlondon

And so we come to the last entry in our series on lesser known memorials to women in London. And for our final memorial, we’re heading to Westminster where a memorial actually commemorating two women – Suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and her daughter Christabel (1880-1958) –  sits in Victoria Tower Gardens next to the Houses of Parliament. 

Erected in 1930, the statue, which stands atop a central pedestal set in a low wall, was, according to the plaque on the front, installed as a tribute to Emmeline’s “courageous leadership of the movement for the enfranchisement of women” and was funded through subscriptions made to the Pankhurst Memorial Fund established following her death.

Sculpted by Arthur George Walker (he also sculpted a statue of Florence Nightingale in Waterloo Place), the now Grade II-listed statue depicts Pankhurst standing with arms appealing to those before her as if addressing a crowd.

Inside the pedestal upon which the statue stands there is apparently a metal box containing some of her letters and an obituary to her published in The Times.

The statue, which was originally installed as a stand-alone monument further to the south of its current position (but still in the gardens), was unveiled on 6th March, 1930, by then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. The Metropolitan Police Band, conducted by Ethel Smyth, a friend of Pankhurst’s, played during the unveiling – some of those police officers who played had previously arrested Suffragettes.

The monument was moved to its current location in 1958 and in 1959 the low wall was added to accommodate a second memorial, this one to Dame Christabel. It consists of two medallions sculpted by Peter Hill. Located at each end of the wall on either side of the statue, they depict the Women’s Social and Political Union badge, known as the “Holloway Prison brooch”, and a portrait of Christabel (right).

There are reportedly controversial plans to move the memorial to a site in The Regent’s Park. The proposed new site, which sits inside Regent’s University grounds, was apparently selected because of the historical association of the Suffragettes with Bedford College which once stood on the site.

There is also apparently a proposal for another statue of Emmeline Pankhurst to be located on Canning Green outside the Supreme Court on Parliament Square.

PICTURES: Top – Prioryman (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0); Right – David Adams; Lower right – Lupo (licensed under CC BY 3.0/image cropped)

10 (lesser known) memorials to women in London – 7. Catherine Booth…

by exploringlondon

Located at Denmark Hill in south London, this statue of Catherine Booth (1829-1890), co-founder of the Salvation Army, was apparently dedicated twice.

The first dedication took place in 1929, the centenary of her birth, and the second the following year when an accompanying statue of her husband William Booth – they stand on either side of the entrance to the Salvation Army’s William Booth Memorial Training College, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (he also designed the statue plinths), on Champion Park  – was also being dedicated.

The work of George Edward Wade, the bronze statue depicts Booth in her Salvation Army uniform – complete with bonnet – and has her holding a Bible pressed to her heart and reaching out with an open hand. Her husband William is also shown in his uniform, preaching from an open the Bible.

An inscription on the granite plinth below describes her “The Army Mother”. The larger than life statue was cast at the Morris Art Bronze Foundry.

There are, incidentally, exact replicas of both statues in Mile End Road in London’s east. Donated by the women of the Salvation Army in the US, that of William was unveiled in 1979 and that of Catherine a later addition, unveiled in 2015 on the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Salvation Army.

The statues are located close to the site where the Booths commenced the work of the Salvation Army in July, 1865.

PICTURE: R Sones (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Image cropped)