Statues - Hither & Thither |
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Bristol
Bristol South West England Colston Avenue ✖ |
Edward ColstonBristol 1636 - Mortlake 1721English merchant, philanthropist, slave trader, and Member of Parliament (Wikipedia) |
John Cassidy
Coalbrookdale 1895 |
Bronze statue of Edward Colston 'in the dress of the seventeenth century, thoughtfully leaning his staff; and around the pedestal arc bronze tablets depicting incidents, allegorical and otherwise, in the life of Colston.' The statue was unveiled 13 November 1895 by the mayor of Bristol at the 124th anniversary of Colston's death.
On the pedestal are four panels, one with an inscription and three with reliefs, and the corners are adorned with dolphins.
 Inscription |
 Two winged hippogryffs rising from the water hold together a large anchor, also supported by a merman. In the foreground a mermaid. It symbolizes the maritime enterprise, supported by the powers of the sea. |
 A captain and some crew members around a dolphin, representing the legendary incident when a leak in one of Colston's vessels was plugged by a dolphin. |
 Colston distributing alms to widows and orphans. |
On 7 June 2020 that statue was toppled by Black Live Matters protesters and thrown in the river.
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An extra plaque was to be added early 2019 with the text:
Edward Colston (1636-1721), MP for Bristol (1710-1713), was one of this city’s greatest benefactors. He supported and endowed schools, almshouses, hospitals and churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere. Many of his charitable foundations continue. This statue was erected in 1895 to commemorate his philanthropy.At the last moment, Bristol's Mayor at the time, Marvin Rees, stepped in to veto the wording.A significant proportion of Colston’s wealth came from investments in slave trading, sugar and other slave-produced goods. As an official of the Royal African Company from 1680 to 1692, he was also involved in the transportation of approximately 84,000 enslaved African men, women and young children, of whom 19,000 died on voyages from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas.
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