Dr. Hook – Leeds, UK - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Dr. Hook, the Man (13th March 1798 - 20th October 1875)
Dr. Walter Farquhar Hook became the Vicar of Leeds in 1837. He went on to carry out many reforms in the area. Leeds had grown rapidly during the industrial revolution and the one church was no longer sufficient. He divided Leeds into 21 parishes, each with their own church.

At this time it was common that parishioners had to rent the pews in churches. He thought this discriminated against poorer parishioners so he moved to a smaller parsonage, and took a cut in his income on the condition that the use of all the ground floor pews became free.

He also campaigned vigorously for help for the poor, especially children. He was in favour of the “Ten Hour Bill” to restrict the number of hours children could work in mills. He was also influential in the building of free schools for the poor of the area.

He was a incredibly popular with his parishioners and when he left to become the Dean of Chichester in 1859 after 22 years in Leeds they collected two thousand guineas for him.

The Statue
The bronze statue is life size and shows Dr. Hook preaching. He is wearing his cassock, stole and preaching scarf. He has his right arm held high, and his left at his side holding a bible, with two fingers making sure he doesn’t lose his place.

The statue is now protected as a listed building, the ENGLISH HERITAGE BUILDING ID IS 465912. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1375032

It is one of four in City Square that were erected to celebrate Leeds becoming a city in 1893. This statute was sculpted by F. W. Pomeroy and was erected in 1903, the date the layout of the new City Square was completed. It was gifted to the city by T. Walter Harding, owner of Tower Works, who also paid for the construction of City Square itself.

The layout of the square was changed in the early 2000s and traffic restricted. This and the other three statues were moved to stand near to the old Post Office building that has now been converted to restaurants and apartments. The statues flank the outside tables of the restaurants.

The Sculptor
F. W. Pomeroy: Frederick William Pomeroy RA (1856 - 1924) entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1880, where he won a travelling scholarship to Paris and Italy. He was elected ARA in 1906, and RA in 1917.
http://www.leedsartgallery.co.uk/gallery/listings/l0112.php

URL of the statue: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/19/2017 fitzydan visited it