This tall monument to General James Wolfe of the British Army, "The Victor of Quebec" in the Seven Years War (known in the US as The French and Indian War) was the gift to the people of Greenwich from the Canadian people. He is placed high on the hill near the Royal Observatory, near his boyhood home in Greenwich.
The statue appears to be larger than life-size figure of Gen. Wolfe dressed in his British Army uniform, surveying the layout of the French forces on the plains of Abraham. The statue is installed on a plinth of white Canadian limestone, with a relief-carving of a memorial wreath and medallion on the north side, and a relief of a military design on the the east and west sides.
The inscription incised into the stone reads as follows:
"JAMES WOLFE
The Victor of Quebec
1727-1759
This monument, the gift of the Canadian people, was unveiled on 5 June 1930 by Le Marquis de Montcalm"
From the Royal Parks website: (
visit link)
"General Wolfe Statue
Built in 1930 to commemorate General James Wolfe (1727-1759), this Grade II listed structure was designed by Dr. Tait Mackenzie and a gift from the Canadians.
The statue commemorates Wolfe's victory against the French at Quebec which secured Canada for the British. Wolfe, whose parents lived in Macartney House on the edge of the park, died in the battle.
The monument was unveiled by the Marquis de Montcalm, a descendant of the Commander-in-Chief of French forces who also died at the Battle of Quebec.
Wolfe lived in Greenwich and is buried in a local church. Originally a huge statue of Britannia was proposed for this site but there is no doubt that Wolfe is a more inspired choice."
Blasterz remember Gen. Wolfe from our trip to Winnipeg, where he is lauded on the Manitoba Provincial Legislative Assembly Building. Our tour guide told us at the time that after Wolfe died after defeating the French forces on the Plains of Abraham (AKA the Battle of Quebec), his body was stuffed into a rum barrel, pickled in alcohol, and shipped home on a British warship to be buried at Greenwich.
Grim stuff for a great British AND Canadian hero: General Wolfe's victory at Quebec was the beginning of the end for the dreams of a New France in Canada. Just 4 years later, the Treaty of Paris (1763) formalized the French cession of most of what had been New France and the eastern part of French Louisiana (in what is now the US) to the British. The French kept the western part of Louisiana, which they sold to the US in 1803.