Lord Byron Statue Appeal

                                   A Press Release from The Byron Society 



Something a little different .... Press Release submitted by the Byron Society on 26th February 2024 :


National statue of the poet Lord Byron to be rescued from neglect 200 years after his death in Greece

A planning application has been submitted to Westminster City Council to rescue one of London’s neglected and forgotten gems, the national Byron Memorial Statue, and relocate it from its current position on a traffic island on London's Park Lane to a publicly accessible, high profile location near Hyde Park’s Victoria Gate. The project forms part of the many activities around the world that will take place to commemorate the 200-year-anniversary of Lord Byron's death at Missonlonghi in Greece in April 2024. 

The initiative is spearheaded by The Byron Society, a charitable membership organisation dedicated to the poet Lord Byron. The Grade II Listed 19th century statue was erected as a national memorial to the poet in the south-east corner of Hyde Park in 1880, with permission granted by Queen Victoria. The original garden setting gave the memorial prominence and public access. 

Due to a number of changes made to the Park Lane traffic layout during the course of the 20th century, the statue is currently inaccessible to the public and cannot be appreciated. The initiative has garnered strong support amongst local community organisations and a fundraising campaign has been launched to raise the estimated £380,000 necessary. 

Donations can be made through The Byron Society's Justgiving page. Lord Byron, President of The Byron Society, said: “It has taken a long time to reach this milestone. Our focus will now be on raising the necessary funds and we are hoping that Byron will be in his new home by the end of the bicentenary year.” ENDS 

Background 

The statue was sponsored by public subscription, and created by sculptor Richard Claude Belt ( 1851-1920), and cast in bronze. The plinth consists of red and white marble donated by the Greek government. Finally erected on 24th May 1880. From what I can work out, the changes to Park Lane traffic layout referred to above happened after the early 1970's. A Youtube clip titled '21/ 03 /71 Greek Clergy and Diplomats lay wreath at the Bryon Statue in London's Hyde Park' shows that it was possible to approach the statue at the time.

Richard Belt was later accused by rival sculptor Charles Lawes of being of being  a " purveyor of other men's work, an editor of other men's designs, a broker of other men's sculpture " and that really his work was being created by Belt's assistant, a Belgian by the name of Francois Verheyden. The accusations were reproduced in 'Vanity Fair' magazine.  Belt sued for libel and the case reached court in 1882 and lasted several months. Expert witnesses were called to testify for Lawes. Belt ended up having to go to another room in the Court building, and recreate his carved bust of an Italian gentleman by the name of Signor Pagliati, in marble, After achieving this feat, Signor Pagliati came to court in person and it was agreed that Belt's work was an accurate representation. 

Richard Belt won his liable action and was awarded £5,000 damages, increased to £10,000 when Lawes failed on appeal. Lawes successfully declared himself bankrupt so avoided paying up. Belt later went bankrupt as due to the cost of the litigation . DAILY TELEGRAPH 

Hopefully the Byron Statue can be moved to somewhere accessible to all. 

Mr Bleak

Brighton 

13th March 2024 

Links 

The Byron Society  

The Byron Statue webpage  from The Byron Society 

Just Giving Page  ( For Byron Statue Appeal). 

Heritage of London  Webpage on Bryon Statue. 

Daily Telegraph article on Belt libel action  ' Forget Maggi Hambling ;This Victorian Sculptor caused a far bigger scandal' , Thomas W Hodgkinson 17th November 2020. 


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