Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/13

 n s. vi. JULY <;, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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side project wings terminating in stone piers forming two seats.- At the backs of these seats are bronze panels the one depicting the great hydraulic crane and shear-legs lifting a 12-inch gun on board a man-of-war at Elswick ; the other, a view of the hydraulic swing-bridge with a ship about to pass through. The high-level bridge is seen in the background. The statue is 9 ft. 6 in. high, and the pedestal 12ft. On the front is inscribed

Armstrong 1810-1900.

On a wall in Pleasant Row, belonging to the N.E. Railway, is a marble tablet record- ing that here stood the house hi which Lord Armstrong was born in 1810.

On the wall of the Banqueting Hall, Jesmond Dene, a tablet was placed on 17 August, 1904, inscribed as follows :

The Armstrong Park and this Banqueting Hall, presented to the people of Newcastle-on- Tyne for their use for ever by Sir William George Armstrong. C.B. (afterwards Lord Armstrong), were opened by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 20th August, 1884.

Henry W. Newton, Mayor and Chairman of the Parks Committee.

Thomas Nelson, Sheriff. / Newcastle \

Hill Motum, Town Clerk. \coat of arms./

The tablet, designed by R. Appleby Miller, is of bronze, in low relief. The" central panel contains the inscription in raised letters, and above it is a medallion of Lord Armstrong. On each side are pilasters con- taining recessed panels with figures : that on the right " Genius," seated, with tablet on knee and compass in hand, and in the background a man-of-war, an Armstrong gun, &c. ; that on the left " Philanthropy," supporting with her right hand a model of the Banqueting Hall, and resting her left upon a survey plan of Jesmond Dene and the Armstrong Park.

There is also an Armstrong memorial at Rothbury, unveiled in August, 1902.

Bolton. In 1862 a bronze statue, the work of the late W. Calder Marshall, R.A., was erected in memory of Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning machine. Cromp- ton was a native of Bolton, and lived there all his days. The statue is 7 ft., and the pedestal 1 1 ft. high. On the front of the latter is the word " Crompton," and on the back

Erected by public subscription J. R. Wolfenden Esq.

Mayor, 1862.

Truro. At the top of Lemon Street, in the parish of Kenwyn, is a fluted Doric column

erected in 1836 by public subscription in memory of Richard Lander, the discoverer of the course of the Niger. It is surmounted by a gigantic statue of Lander, the work of the Cornish sculptor X. N. Burnard. The only inscription is the word '' Lander." The column is granite, and h*s been twice built, for in May. 1836, just as it was nearing completion, it fell to the ground " with a- portentous crash that shock nil Lemon Street/' This catastrophe drew from Sir Richard Polwhele, the aged Cornish his- torian, who resided in the locality, the following effusion :

Hark, hark ! from yon column it came ! 'Tis-

the roar That is heard on the Niger: the Landers' own

shore.

And the growl and the blood-thrilling yell ! Yon column, with ominous bodings terrific, Re-echoes the sound from the deserts of Afric I Lo, it. totters ! That moment it fell.

Richard Lander has been rather un- fortunate with respect to his memorials. A monument placed by his widow and daughter to his memory in the Chapel Royal, Savoy, was destroyed in the fire of 7 July, 1864. It has been replaced by a stained -glass window bearing the following inscription :

" In memory of Richard Lemon Lander, the discoverer of the course of the Niger, and the first Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society. He was born at Truro in 1804,. and died in the Island of Fernando Po in 1834, from wounds- inflicted by the natives. This window is inserted, by her Majesty's permission, by some of hi relations and friends, and by some of the Fellows- of the Royal Geographical Society."

Monmouth. On 19 Oct., 1911, Lord Raglan unveiled a statue of the Hon. C. S. Rolls, the famous airman. It stands in a conspicuous position in Agincourt Square., and is the work of Mr. Goscombe John, R.A, Rolls is represented, in the costume in which he crossed the Channel, examining the model of an aeroplane, which he holds- in his hands. On the pedestal are three bronze panels representing motoring, balloon- ing, and aviation, and the following inscrip- tion :

" Erected by public subscription to the memory of the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls, third son of Lord and Lady Llangattock, as a tribute of admiration for his great achievements in motoring, ballooning, and aviation. He was a pioneer in both scientific and practical motoring: and aviation, and the first to fly across the Channel from England to France and back without land- ing. He lost his life by the wrecking of his aeroplane at Bournemouth, July 12th, 1910. His death caused worldwide regret and deep national