The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in Brighton on the 30th. August, although unfortunately the year of posting is not legible.
The card was sent to:
Mrs. Nightingale,
43, High Street,
Orpington,
Kent.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"71 Blatchington Road,
Hove,
Sussex.
Thanks for P.C.
Above is new address
from now onwards.
Love in haste,
G. & H."
The Victoria Memorial, London
The Victoria Memorial is a monument to Queen Victoria, located at the end of The Mall in London. It was designed and executed by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock.
The memorial is placed in the middle of an architectural setting of formal gardens and gates designed by the architect Sir Aston Webb.
Designed in 1901, it was unveiled on the 16th. May 1911, though it was not completed until 1924.
It was the centrepiece of an ambitious urban planning scheme, which included the creation of the Queen’s Gardens to a design by Sir Aston Webb, and the refacing of Buckingham Palace (which stands behind the memorial) by the same architect.
Like the earlier Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, the Victoria Memorial has an elaborate scheme of iconographic sculpture. The central pylon of the memorial is of Pentelic marble, and individual statues are in Lasa marble and gilt bronze.
The memorial weighs 2,300 metric tonnes, and is 104 ft wide. In 1970 it was listed as Grade I.
Description of the Memorial
At the top of the central pylon stands a gilded bronze Winged Victory, standing on a globe and with a victor's palm in one hand. Beneath her are personifications of Constancy, holding a compass with its needle pointing true north, and Courage, holding a club.
Beneath these, on the eastern and western sides, are two eagles with wings outspread, representing Empire. Below these, statues of an enthroned Queen Victoria (facing The Mall) and of Motherhood (facing Buckingham Palace), with Justice (facing north-west towards Green Park) and Truth (facing south-east).
These four statues were created from solid blocks of marble, with Truth being sculpted from a block weighing 40 tonnes.
Sir Thomas Brock described the symbolism of the Memorial, saying that:
"It is devoted to the qualities which
made our Queen so great and so
much beloved."
He added that the statue of the Queen was placed to face towards the city, while flanked by Truth and Justice as he felt that :
"She was just, and sought the truth
always and in circumstances.
Motherhood represents her great
love for her people".
At the four corners of the monument are massive bronze figures with lions, representing Peace (a female figure holding an olive branch), Progress (a nude youth holding a flaming torch), Agriculture (a woman in peasant dress with a sickle and a sheaf of corn) and Manufacture (a blacksmith in modern costume with a hammer and a scroll). The bronzes were restored in 2011.
The whole sculptural programme has a nautical theme, much like the rest of The Mall (Admiralty Arch, for example). This can be seen in the mermaids, mermen and the hippogriff, all of which are suggestive of the United Kingdom's naval power.
At nearly 25 metres (82 ft) tall, the Victoria Memorial remains the tallest monument to a King or Queen in England.
History of the Memorial
King Edward VII suggested that a Parliamentary committee should be formed to develop plans for a Memorial to Queen Victoria following her death. The first meeting took place on the 19th. February 1901 at the Foreign Office, Whitehall.
The first secretary of the committee was Arthur Bigge, 1st. Baron Stamfordham. Initially these meetings were behind closed doors, and the proceedings were not revealed to the public. However the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Joseph Dimsdale, publicly announced that the committee had decided that the Memorial should be "monumental".
Reginald Brett, 2nd. Viscount Esher, the secretary of the committee, submitted the proposal to the King on the 4th. March 1901. A number of sites were suggested, and the King visited both Westminster Abbey and the park near the Palace of Westminster. Several ideas were rumoured at this time, including an open square in The Mall near to the Duke of York Column, and a memorial located in Green Park.
On the 26th. March 1901 the decision was announced to locate the Memorial outside Buckingham Palace and slightly shorten The Mall.
It was estimated that the work would cost £250,000, and it was further decided that there would be no grant given by the Government for the construction.
A competition was conducted for the design, with five architects being chosen to develop designs. At the beginning of July 1901 the committee selected its primary choice for the construction and took it to the King for approval. It was announced on the 21st. October 1902 that Thomas Brock had been chosen as the designer.
Funding and Construction of the Memorial
Funding for the memorial was gathered from around the British Empire as well as the public. The Australian House of Representatives granted a £25,000 contribution for the construction, and the New Zealand government submitted a cheque for £15,000 towards the fund.
By October 1901 £154,000 had been gathered. During 1902 a number of tribes from the west coast of Africa sent goods to be sold, with the proceeds going towards the fund. Alfred Lewis Jones had arranged for these items to be brought from Africa to Liverpool free of charge on his ships.
Following the public and national donations towards the funds, there was more money collected than was necessary for the construction of the Memorial.
Funds were therefore diverted towards the construction of Admiralty Arch at the other end of The Mall, and a redevelopment to clear a path directly from that road into Trafalgar Square. Sir Aston Webb was put in charge of this project; he built the Arch so economically that enough money was left over to re-front the entirety of Buckingham Palace, a job that was completed in 13 weeks due to the pre-fabrication of the new stonework.
The initial preparatory stage was to re-route the road and modify The Mall. Work on constructing the Memorial started in 1905. The lower half of the Memorial was revealed to the public on the 24th. May 1909. Thousands of people visited it on the first day.
Dedication and Inauguration
Following a practice ceremony on the 11th. March 1911, in the presence of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the dedication ceremony took place on the 16th. May 1911, presided over by King George V.
His first cousin, Wilhelm II of Germany, was also present. These two were the senior grandsons of Queen Victoria, and arrived, together with their families, in royal procession. Also in attendance were a large number of Members of Parliament, and representatives of the armed forces.
In his role as Home Secretary, Winston Churchill carried the text of the speeches. Lord Esher addressed the King and the gathered crowd, explaining the history of the Memorial. The King replied to this, referring to his involvement in the development of the monument to his grandmother.
The King talked of the impact of Queen Victoria and of her popularity with the public. In total, the ceremony went on for thirty minutes. Following this, it was revealed to the press that the King had decided that the sculptor of the Memorial, Thomas Brock, was to be knighted.
Later Uses of the Memorial
As part of the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the Victoria Memorial (along with areas in Green Park and Buckingham Palace) was used as a platform for a fireworks display which lasted fourteen minutes with a total of two and three-quarter tonnes of fireworks being used.
In addition, water jets were added to the fountains in the Victoria Memorial, which fired water 40 feet (12 m) up into the air. This display followed a concert held in the Palace forecourt.
It was announced in February 2012 that the Victoria Memorial would form the centrepiece of the stage for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert on the 4th. June 2012.
Platforms were built around the memorial at a cost of £200,000, and were constructed in two weeks. A number of performers appeared from across the sixty years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, including Gary Barlow, Tom Jones, Elton John, Jessie J, Madness, Dame Shirley Bassey and Paul McCartney.
Tickets were free and allocated by public ballot; and in addition to being seen live by the 10,000 fans in attendance, the event was broadcast by the BBC and highlights were shown in the United States on ABC.
Later in 2012, the Memorial marked the end of "Our Greatest Team Parade" on the 10th. September 2012. This parade celebrated the successes of the British teams at the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. There were 21 floats holding a total of around 800 athletes, and it was estimated that around a million members of the public cheered them on.
The area from Admiralty Arch to the Victoria Memorial down the Mall was reserved for ticket holders. After the arrival at the Victoria Memorial, there was a flypast by helicopters of the Royal Air Force, as well as a British Airways jet and a flight of the Red Arrows. During the games, the Mall and the Victoria Memorial had been used as the finishing point for the Marathon, as well as being on the triathlon route.
The Memorial was damaged by anti-austerity protesters during the "Million Mask March" on the 5th. November 2013, which took place in central London. During the following year's protests, the Memorial was guarded by police officers.
