Frederick Temple - City Hall, Belfast, UK
N 54° 35.784 W 005° 55.871
30U E 310646 N 6053830
This slightly larger than life statue of Frederick Temple, constructed from stone and bronze, is located in the grounds of the Belfast City Hall to the west of the main building.
Waymark Code: WM11E72
Location: Ulster, Ireland
Date Posted: 10/06/2019
Views: 4
The Department for Communities website tells us about the listed statue:
A Baroque tempietto in Portland stone by Sir Alfred Brumell Thomas c.1906, housing a statue by F W Pomeroy of the First Marquis of Dufferin & Ava, former Viceroy of India and Governor-General of Canada, resplendent in breeches and cocked hat and flanked by seated bronze statues of a turbanned Indian and a Canadian trapper in furs.
The memorial features the bronze statute of the Marquis, standing beneath the “…frolicsome little temple…” designed by Thomas. Above the dome is a Bronze figure, representing Fame and beneath is a stone plinth containing two bronze figures. These flank the foot of the statue, one represents India, of which he was Viceroy in 1884-88, and Canada, of which he was Governor General in 1872-78.
A monument in Portland stone and bronze to the 1st Marquis of Dufferin & Ava designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas with sculpture by F W Pomeroy, erected 1906 and standing on the W side of the City Hall. The main part of the monument consists of a limestone plinth with curved projections front and back carrying inscriptions recording the areas where the Marquis worked, culminating in bronze trophies and supporting four plain columns with Ionic capitals and swags. At either side the columns support pediments broken by shields, while at front and back they support slightly higher arches with bronze enrichments. The temple is topped by a winged bronze figure standing on a bronze globe. Resplendent in breeches and sash and carrying a cocked hat, the Marquis’ bronze statue stands between the columns. The moulded base of the plinth extends round lower plinths at either side of the temple. On one side a turbanned Indian warrior with sword sits on a tiger, and on the other is a Canadian hunter in furs with snowshoes on his back sits on a moose, both in bronze and representing two regions of the globe where Lord Dufferin was particularly prominent.
Wikipedia also tells us:
Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava KP GCB GCSI GCMG GCIE PC (21 June 1826 – 12 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Victoria, and became well known to the public after publishing a best-selling account of his travels in the North Atlantic.
He is now best known as one of the most successful diplomats of his time. His long career in public service began as a commissioner to Syria in 1860, where his skilful diplomacy maintained British interests while preventing France from instituting a client state in Lebanon. After his success in Syria, Dufferin served in the Government of the United Kingdom as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Under-Secretary of State for War. In 1872 he became the third Governor General of Canada, bolstering imperial ties in the early years of the Dominion, and in 1884 he reached the pinnacle of his diplomatic career as eighth Viceroy of India.
Following his retirement from the diplomatic service in 1896, his final years were marred by personal tragedy and a misguided attempt to secure his family's financial position. His eldest son was killed in the Second Boer War and another son badly wounded. He was chairman of a mining firm that went bankrupt after swindling people, although he was ignorant of the matter. His biographer Davenport-Hines says he was "imaginative, sympathetic, warm-hearted, and gloriously versatile." He was an effective leader in Lebanon, Canada and India, averted war with Russia, and annexed Burma. He was careless with money but charming in high society on three continents.