ABOUT THE STATUE:
"Thorneycroft RA, sculptor, 1902. Bronze lifesize robed figure of Prime Minister Gladstone. Polished grey granite stepped plinth with 2 inset bronze bas-relief panels depicting scenes from the life of Gladstone."
--Historic Scotland (
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"The subject stands erect in the robes of the Rector of Glasgow University with arms folded across his chest, and with a book in his left hand. There are several other books and a sheaf of manuscripts at his feet. The treatment of the left hand creates the impression that the index finger is tucked between the leaves of the book, though in fact this is a tactful device to conceal the disfigured remains of the finger, which had been amputated after a shooting accident in 1845. On the pedestal there are two narrative reliefs showing, on the left (east) face, Gladstone as Prime Minister addressing the House of Commons; on the right, Gladstone ‘engaged in his favourite recreation of tree-felling’ in the grounds of Hawarden Castle. In the latter panel he is shown ‘with his sleeves rolled up, (leaning on his axe, while seated on a log beside him are his wife, his daughter (Mrs. Drew), and his favourite grandchild, Dorothy Drew’. The panels are modelled in very low relief and are very slightly concave, following the curvature of the plinth (between the base and the cornice). A bronze coat of Glasgow crest draped with a swag is attached to the front of the pedestal.
The unveiling, originally scheduled for the first fortnight of August, finally took place on Saturday, 11 October 1902, the ceremony being performed by the Earl of Rosebery.
Sculptor and founder: William Hamo Thornycroft."
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ABOUT THE MAN:
"William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898), was a British Liberal politician. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times (1868–74, 1880–85, February–July 1886 and 1892–94), more than any other person, and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister; he resigned for the final time when was 84 years old.
Gladstone first entered Parliament in 1832. Beginning as a High Tory, Gladstone served in the Cabinet of Sir Robert Peel. After the split of the Conservatives Gladstone was a Peelite – in 1859 the Peelites merged with the Whigs and the Radicals to form the Liberal Party. As Chancellor Gladstone became committed to low public spending and to electoral reform, earning him the sobriquet "The People's William".
Gladstone's first ministry saw many reforms including Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting. After his electoral defeat in 1874, Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, but from 1876 began a comeback based on opposition to Turkey's Bulgarian atrocities. Gladstone's Midlothian Campaign of 1879–80 was an early example of many modern political campaigning techniques. After the 1880 election, he formed his second ministry, which saw crises in Egypt (culminating in the death of General Gordon in 1885), and in Ireland, where the government passed repressive measures but also improved the legal rights of Irish tenant farmers. The government also passed the Third Reform Act.
Back in office in early 1886, Gladstone proposed Irish home rule but this was defeated in the House of Commons in July. The resulting split in the Liberal Party helped keep them out of office, with one short break, for twenty years. In 1892 Gladstone formed his last government at the age of 82. The Second Irish Home Rule Bill passed the Commons but was defeated in the Lords in 1893. Gladstone resigned in March 1894, in opposition to increased naval expenditure. He left Parliament in 1895 and died three years later aged 88.
Gladstone is famous for his oratory, his religiosity, his liberalism, his rivalry with the Conservative Leader Benjamin Disraeli, and for his poor relations with Queen Victoria, who once complained, "He always addresses me as if I were a public meeting."
Gladstone was known affectionately by his supporters as "The People's William" or the "G.O.M." ("Grand Old Man", or, according to Disraeli, "God's Only Mistake"). Gladstone is consistently ranked as one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers."
--Wikipedia (
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