Robert Owen - Manchester, UK - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

"Bronze portrait statue of Robert Owen extending his hand to a crouching child. On white granite pedestal which is placed on a brick base.

Manchester's statue of Robert Owen is a copy of the one erected in Owen's birthplace, Newtown in 1956. This was designed by Gilbert Bayes and completed by W. E. King. The Manchester statue was commissioned by the Co-operative Bank as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations to mark the birth of the modern co-operative movement. Terry Thomas, managing director of the Co- operative Bank, Manchester, had visited Newtown in 1993 for the annual wreath-laying ceremony on Owen's grave. He returned to Manchester with the idea of commissioning a replica of the Newtown statue to stand outside the bank's headquarters in Manchester. It was appropriate that Owen should be considered as a suitable subject for such a commemorative sculpture as he was acknowledged as one of the formative influences on the development of co-operation in Britain. He also had a direct connection with Manchester, having managed a cotton mill in the town before going on to establish his famous industrial community in New Lanark. Arrangements were made initially with the Morris Singer foundry to undertake the work but due to their financial problems, the contract was given to Burleighfield Arts Ltd in High Wycombe, who arranged to remove Bayes' statue from Newtown, make a copy of it, and also re- patinate the original. The precise site selected for the replica statue was in front of the Co-operative Bank, Balloon Street, in the very heart of a district dominated by co-operative buildings. The statue was unveiled in May 1994 by Hughie Todner, the president of the Co-operative Congress, which was holding its anniversary congress in Rochdale. Speaking at the ceremony, Terry Thomas pointed to the modern relevance of Owen's ideas, calling on him to be recognised 'as an economic and social guru for the twenty-first century at a time when the extremes of Adam Smith of the right and Karl Marx of the left have lost much of their appeal.' Rochdale unveiled its own sculpture to mark the 150th anniversary of the Rochdale Pioneers in the following year.

Robert Owen, the son of a saddler and ironmonger from Newtown in Wales, was born on 14 May 1771. After spending three years in Stamford, Owen moved to work in a drapers in London. This job lasted until 1787 when Owen, now aged sixteen, found work at a large drapery business in Manchester. He soon became involved in the new cotton spinning industry becoming manager of the Bank Top cotton mill, Piccadilly, and later a partner in the larger Chorlton Mills. He became friends with David Dale, owner of one of largest cotton-spinning businesses in Britain. In 1799 Owen married Dale's daughter, Caroline. With the financial support of several businessmen from Manchester, Owen purchased Dale's textile factories in New Lanark, near Glasgow. At New Lanark he began to put into action his belief that the creation of the right working and community environment could produce rational, good and humane people. New Lanark became the model of other co-operative communities in Britain and the United States. Owen's social and moral philosophy were expounded in his writings including A New View of Society (1813). He wrote widely on the subjects of co-operation, education and trade unionism. In 1815 Owen sent detailed proposals to Parliament about his ideas on factory reform. Many of his schemes such as the National Equitable Labour Exchange (1832) and the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union (1834) were considered failures, their underlying principles continued to shape political thought. Although disillusioned with the failure of most of his political campaigns, Owen continued to work for his 'new moral order' until his death on 17th November, 1858. He was buried in his native town of Newtown." link

An inscription on rear of stone pedestal reads:

THIS STATUE WAS UNVEILED ON 28TH MAY 1994 BY HUGHIE TODNER
PRESIDENT OF THE 1994 CO-OP CONGRESS
IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD MAYOR OF MANCHESTER, CLLR. SHEILA SMITH
THE LEADER OF THE CITY COUNCIL CLLR. GRAHAM STRINGER
THE MAYOR OF NEWTOWN CLLR. DAVID PUGH/THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK TOM AGAR THE MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK TERRY THOMAS

Where is original located?: Robert Owen's birthplace, Newtown Where is this replica located?: Outside Co-operative Bank, Balloon Street, Manchester Who created the original?: designed by Gilbert Bayes and completed by W. E. King Internet Link about Original: http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=robert-owen-statue-newtown Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1956

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