Fama on Kay Memorial – Bury, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 35.516 W 002° 17.833
30U E 546516 N 5938351
The Kay memorial was erected by a descendent of John Kay to spread the fame of his achievements so who better than the Goddess Fame to do it for him.
Waymark Code: WMDDDP
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/29/2011
Views: 2
The Memorial
John Kay was an inventor who made a number of improvements to textile machinery at the start of the industrial revolution. He is one of the people credited with enabling the industrial revolution to get started. His best known invention was the flying shuttle that allowed looms to be operated by a single person rather than two, doubling production at a stroke.
However although his inventions were a success he died penniless because he was not able to enforce his patent rights.
The improved weaving machines did bring jobs to Kay’s home town of Bury and there many mills in the town and the surrounding area.
Henry Whitehead the Great, Great, Grandson of Kay paid to have the memorial erected and in the plaque explicitly states that he wished to spread the fame of John Kay’s achievements. High up on top of the memorial is a statue of the Roman Goddess Fama (also known as Fame) with a trumpet in her hand in order to spread the message far and wide.
The memorial was erected in 1908 just over 200 years after Kay’s birth in 1704.
The Goddess Fama
Fama is the Roman Goddess of Fame and rumour. She lives at the centre of the world on a high mountain in a house with no doors, but a thousand windows. Her home enables her to see and hear everything.
She is a winged goddess and each of her feathers is supposed to contain an eye, ear and mouth. She uses a trumpet before making her announcements. She is portrayed as a someone who usually spreads malicious rumours, but does also spread good news.
Henry Whitehead and the sculptor John Cassidy obviously decided to rely on her good side to spread the fame of John Kay.
http://www.goddessaday.com/roman/fama
The Plaque Text
THE GIFT OF HENRY WHITEHEAD OF HASLAM HEY TO HIS NATIVE TOWN
TO PERPETUATE THE NAME AND FAME OF
JOHN KAY
OF
BURY.
WHOSE INVENTION IN THE YEAR 1733 OF THE FLY SHUTTLE
QUADRUPLED HUMAN POWER IN WEAVING & PLACED ENGLAND IN THE FRONT RANK
AS THE BEST MARKET IN THE WORLD FOR TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
HE WAS BORN IN BURY IN 1704, AND DIED IN EXILE AND POVERTY IN FRANCE,
WHERE HE LIES IN AN UNKNOWN GRAVE.