STATUES IN THE PARK
STATUES IN THE PARK
The statues within Queens Park are located on the Promenade Terrace.
As part of the Lottery Fund grant the statues were all cleaned from grime and dirt but nature and pollution are hard to hold back and they have started to look similar to how they were before the cleaning!
Statue of James Dorrian (1828-1895)
Inscription on pedestal reads:-
JAMES DORRIAN M.D.
1826 – 1895
ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION TO COMMEMORATE A LIFE OF USEFULNESS
Dorrian was a Bolton doctor.
He was born in County Down, Ireland, and was educated in Dublin.
He came to Bolton around 1850, becoming “one of the best known medical gentlemen in the town”
Many of his patients were Irish or Catholic, and he gained a reputation for charity and philanthropy through ministering to the Irish poor.
It was originally planned to erect the statue in Victoria Square but after some debate the council decided that Queens Park would be a better location.
Statue of Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
Inscription on pedestal reads:-
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
EARL OF BEACONSFIELD K.G.
PRESENTED TO THE BOROUGH OF BOLTON BY THE BOLTON & DISTRICT WORKING MENS CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION
Known as a dandy, a novelist, a brilliant debator and England’s first and only Jewish prime minister, Disraeli is best remembered for bringing India and the Suez Canal under control of the crown.
He had no real connection to Bolton at all however although he did visit the town on a few occasions.
This was the first of the statues to be erected on the Promenade Terrace and probably caused some arguments from anyone who didn’t support the Conservative council at the time. It was in many ways a political statement donated by the Conservative Associati0n of Bolton
Statue of John Fielding (1849-1896)
Inscription on pedestal reads:-
J.T. FIELDING J.P.
FOR OVER 20 YEARS/THE SECRETARY OF THE/OPERATIVE COTTON SPINNERS’ ASSOCIATION/AND UNITED TRADES COUNCIL/OF BOLTON AND DISTRICT.
UNITY AND EQUITY WERE THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF HIS LIFE.
ERECTED BY THE TRADE UNIONISTS AND PUBLIC OF BOLTON AND PRESENTED TO THE BOROUGH JULY 11TH 1896
Fielding was a trade unionist, born at Redlaur, near Blackburn, the son of a cotton worker.
A millworker by trade Fielding became heavily involved in workers’ rights and the trade union movement and his involvement was critical in the amalgamation of two branches of the spinning industry union into one organisation.
He was very well regarded by his fellow workers and after his death friends and admirers started a fund to help perpetuate his memory in the form of a statue.
Although the statue is life sized it looks a little out of proportion with the size of the pedestal and has been disparaged by some critics.
Gallipoli Memorial
This memorial was funded by the Armstrong Group and was donated to Queens Park in commemoration of the courageous Bolton soldiers who lost their lives in the Gallipoli and Dardanelles campaign between 1915-1916.
The six metre high obelisk bears the names of 236 local servicemen who died but with further research it is expected that more names will be added to the memorial in the future.
It is the most recent statue on the Promenade Terrace having only been erected in 2015 to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the campaign.