Trafalgar Square had
already been created in memory of Lord Nelson in 1832. Considering that Nelson was killed
in 1805 and is our greatest national hero, it seems a lack of due realisation of this
fact. If it were not for Nelson England would have been taken over by the French. Moving
on to our generation we would probably now be ruled by the Germans.
When Nelson died in 1805 George III was still on the throne and there
was no mention of a monument being raised to Nelson. In 1820, when George III was
succeeded by George IV, there was still no statue in London. Then came William IV, then
Victoria in 1837. It is said that, when Queen Victoria visited Cowes, she asked the name
of the ‘big ship’ anchored off shore.
In The Times 9th September 1837 “JB” suggested the
desirability of adorning Trafalgar Square with a worthy monument to Lord Nelson. Time went
on and in The Times of 27th April 1838 the committee for erecting a statue to
Lord Nelson asked for architects to submit designs for a monument to be erected in
Trafalgar Square. They said that, because subscriptions were continuing to be received, (a
good proportion was given by the Russians) they couldn’t say how much they could
spend, but thought £20,000 – £30,000. Another year went by; still no design was
accepted. We are now up to 1839, when at last the result of the competition to design the
statue of Lord Nelson was announced. 124 designs had been entered; these exhibited in a
Regent Street gallery. Many of the designs were criticised adversely; but two were
eventually chosen: one design for the column and another for the statue of Nelson. The
design for the column chosen was by William Railton – erected in 1842. It stands 145
feet above London. The statue chosen was by E.H.Bailey – raised in 1867 by Sir Edwin
Landseer.
So, at last, Nelson had his column of Craigleath stone, his
bronze statue and four lions to guard him. I will conclude with a passage from the Life of
Lord Nelson by Sir Geoffrey Callender…
...”The Hero of Heroes lies under the very dome of St.Pauls,
sleeping his last sleep peacefully, but his spirit lives; and living tells of the fight
well fought, the pain endured, the duty nobly done.”
