Queen Victoria (1896) by George Blackall Simonds (1843-1929). Unveiled 20 October 1902. Bronze on a Portaland stone pedestal. The memorial is about 22' high, and the statue itself is over 8' (according to the Times report of the unveiling). It stands outside St John the Evangelist's church, at the junction of Greenhill and Dorchester Road, Weymouth, Dorset. [Click on these and the following images to enlarge them.]
Again according to the Times report, the statue was designed using "studies which he [Simonds] made at the time of the first jubilee for his marble statue at Reading, and which received her Majesty's approval." It is quite impressive, the Queen's expression serious, but not set, and and mildly benign; her state robes, orb and sceptre are all handsomely detailed. A seaside touch is added by the little grotesque dolphins at the base of the pedestal. The statue has quite an imposing presence, then, but despite being higher up it cannot rival, either in position or festive air, the painted and gilded statue of King George III that stands at the other end of the seafront: after all, it was George III who made the resort popular by coming to bathe here, and the inscription on his statue (erected in 1809) is to the "grateful inhabitants" who benefitted from this.
The inscription on the front of the pedestal reads, "This memorial erected /” by public subscription / was unveiled by / H.R.H Princess Beatrice / (Princess Henry of Battenberg) / on 20 October 1902."
Related Material
- A Gallery of portraits in stone and bronze of Queen Victoria
- Weymouth, Dorset: Glimpses of Its Georgian and Victorian History
Photographs and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. The images may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
"Court Circular." The Times. 21 October 1902: 8. Times Digital Archive. Web. 10 August 2015.
"Queen Victoria." PMSA (Public Monuments & Sculpture Association). Web. 10 August 2015.
Last modified 10 August 2015