page_title: John Skirrow Wright
section_title: Memorial
hierarchical_section_title: John Skirrow Wright / Memorial
caption_attribution_description: English: Bronze bust of John Skirrow Wright in the Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham. Cast by William Bloye from a marble statue by Francis John Williamson.
context_page_description: John Skirrow Wright was one of the prominent pioneers and social improvers of the 19th century in Birmingham, England; and inventor of the postal order. He was involved in many aspects of Birmingham's mid-Victorian life that were intended for the benefit of its citizens, including the General Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, the School of Art, the Children's Hospital, the early Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund, and the Blue Coat School.
context_section_description: Following Wright's death, the Mayor of Birmingham, Richard Chamberlain, convened a memorial committee. Many of the town's politicians favoured a portrait to hang in the new Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, or a bust to be placed in the Council House. Others, however, felt that the most appropriate memorial would be a public statue. A Mr Apperley wrote to the Birmingham Daily Post to argue that a bust in the Council House would rarely be seen except on special occasions. He stated: "We will have a statue if we buy it ourselves"; and made it clear that the people wanted "something whereby we can show our children the form of one we love so well and instil in them the good qualities he possessed. If ever a man deserved a statue Mr Wright does and if ever the working men want a statue to anyone they want one to him."
  A decision was finally made in favour of a statue, and Francis Williamson was given the commission. It was sculpted from marble and sited in Colmore Row (in what afterwards became Victoria Square), in front of the Council House. It was unveiled by John Bright MP on 15 June 1883. The Birmingham Daily Mail reported that the pose was admirable, with Wright standing in a bold upright attitude, as was his wont when addressing an audience. The statue stood close to that to Joseph Priestley, and was joined by the statue to Queen Victoria in 1901. However, following the death of Edward VII, Priestley and Wright were moved to Chamberlain Place in 1913, so that the new memorial to Edward by Albert Toft could be placed next to his mother.
  In 1914 the architectural journal The Builder published a disparaging review of Birmingham's public monuments, criticising their execution and settings. It called the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain miserable, and Chamberlain Place "squirt square"; but it found the Wright statue the least unsatisfactory example. Despite the use of such adjectives as "cold", "stiff" and "provincial", it conceded that, of all Birmingham's statues, this one displayed a simple and refined design, and found that the figure and the base displayed a certain amount of cohesion.
  The statue remained in Chamberlain Place until 1951, when, as no suitable place for it could be found, it was moved to a storage depot, and eventually scrapped. However, in 1956 a bronze copy of the bust was made by William Bloye, Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Birmingham Civic Society. This was unveiled in a niche in the Council House on 13 September 1957, where it remains.
caption: Bust of Wright by William Bloye in Birmingham's Council House
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