Sir Robert Peel was a local business man whose family had grown very wealthy from the cotton industry and a number of factories in nearby Bury.
He had also done well politically and been prime minister of the United Kingdom twice. These days he is remembered for starting the first police force commonly known as Bobbies.
However at the time he was famous and extremely popular for repealing the corn laws. The UK had a policy of imposing high import duties on cereal crops to help protect farmers from competition from abroad.
The downside of this policy was that it kept the cost of food very high causing extreme hardship for workers in factories such as those in Manchester.
Sir Robert Peel died suddenly in 1850 after falling of his horse. He was still so popular in Manchester that his statue became the first in Manchester to be paid for by public subscription.
His bronze statue stands high on a plinth that stands on a stepped pedestal. Seated at the bottom of the pedestal steps are the two allegorical figures.
The left hand figure represents the Arts and Sciences. She is holding a book labelled ‘Ars et Scienta’; in her right hand is a wreath, and around her feet are artistic and scientific objects including a palette, sculptor's mallet and a retort.
The right hand figure is a crowned female figure representing Manchester, holding a spindle of yarn in her left hand, while the other hand rests on a bale of cotton goods. Resting on the plinth next to her is a shield from the Manchester coat of arms.
Manchester was one of the first industrialised cites and proud of her scientific and industrial background. In addition her main industry was based on cotton and so all the symbols on the statues were symbolic of Manchester’s success. In addition Sir Robert Peel’s business background was also based in cotton.
The design of the statue was opened to a public competition. Nine sculptors presented designs and the winning prize of 3,000 guineas went to William Calder Marshall. His design was cast at Robinson and Cottam's Pimlico foundry in London.
The statue was unveiled on 12th October 1853by W. E. Gladstone who at the time was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was placed on an esplanade outside the Royal Infirmary, a place that Manchester had intended to use as a site for public sculpture for a while. This statue became the first one to be erected.
There have been many changes in the area since the statue was erected. The hospital was demolished in 1909, and then the public square now known as Piccadilly Gardens was renovated and re-laid in 2001. At that time the statue was moved to a slightly different position.
It became a Grade II listed building on 3rd October 1974, the English Heritage Reference is 1271114. (
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