Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial
The Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial is a memorial in London to Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel, two of the foremost British suffragettes. It stands at the entrance to Victoria Tower Gardens, south of Victoria Tower at the southwest corner of the Palace of Westminster.[1] Its main feature is a bronze statue of Emmeline Pankhurst by Arthur George Walker, unveiled in 1930. In 1958 the statue was relocated to its current site and the bronze reliefs commemorating Christabel Pankhurst were added.
Campaign for and unveiling of the memorial
Shortly after Emmeline Pankhurst's death in 1928 a Pankhurst Memorial Fund was established, with her fellow suffragettes
A bronze statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, with arms outstretched as if addressing a rally, was sculpted by Arthur George Walker; Sir Herbert Baker was the architect of the plinth. As well as covering the cost of the plinth and statue the fund paid the Ministry of Works £160 to have the statue cleaned in perpetuity and a further £330 to always have a plant placed in a vase next to the statue.[4]
The statue was unveiled by the Prime Minister,
Relocation in 1958
In 1958 the statue was moved from its original position in the south of the gardens to a new site further north, and a low stone screen was built flanking the statue, terminating at either end with bronze medallions sculpted by Peter Hills. These depict, on the left, the "prison brooch" or "badge" of the WSPU,[7] and, on the right, a profile bust of Christabel Pankhurst, who died in 1958. The unveiling of this dual memorial was performed on 13 July 1959 by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir.[8] Sylvia Pankhurst died in 1960; she is not commemorated. The statue was granted a Grade II listing in 1970.
Proposed relocation in 2018
In August 2018, a group called "The Emmeline Pankhurst Trust Limited"
-
Left, the prisoners' badge of theWSPU, known as the "Holloway brooch", designed by Sylvia Pankhurstin 1909
-
Centre, the Emmeline Pankhurst statue
-
Right, a portrait medallion of Dame Christabel Pankhurst, 1880–1958
See also
References
- ^ Historic England. "Statue of Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst (1357336)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ^ a b c Pugh 2013, p. 409.
- ISBN 978-0-708-32173-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pugh 2013, p. 410.
- ^ Monument to a woman who changed history: Emmeline Pankhurst statue in Victoria Tower Gardens
- ^ The Times shot some pictures of this event, one of it is in possession of Susanne Wosnitzka. At this picture Ethel Smyth is wearing her honorary doctor's robe. Some men in the background are filming this scene with cameras. A 14645, nex39621 (historicimages.com): "FAMOUS CONDUCTOR AT UNVEILING OF MRS PANKHURST STATUE. Our picture shows Dame Ethel Smythe [sic] conducting the Metropolitan Police Band when they played "The March of the Women" and the chorale from her composition "The Wreckers" at the unveiling of Mrs Pankhurst Statue".
- ^ Holloway brooch Archived 8 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Parliament of the United Kingdom
- ^ Ward-Jackson, Philip (2011), Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1, Public Sculpture of Britain, vol. 14, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp. 382–5
- ^ "Company number 10726298". Companies House. 24 September 2018.
- ^ "The Emmeline Pankhurst Trust Limited". Charity Commission. 15 August 2018.
- ^ Khomami, Nadia (17 August 2018). "Anger over plan to move Pankhurst statue away from parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ "18/05778/FULL Removal/dismantling of the statue at Victoria Tower gardens and making good the ground on which it stands". City of Westminster Council. 15 August 2018.
Bibliography
- ISBN 9781448162680.
External links
- Media related to Emmeline Pankhurst Memorial, London at Wikimedia Commons