John Batchelor (10 April 1820 – 29 May 1883) was a prominent Welsh Victorian businessman and politician, who earned the epithet "Friend of Freedom".David Jame
''Friend of freedom facing capture''
South Wales Echo, 18 January 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-29.

Life and career

Although born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Batchelor became a prominent

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

figure, having moved there in his early twenties. He set up business as a timber merchant and, later, slate merchant and also played a key role in establishing the Mount Stuart Dry Dock. He was an active

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician and served as a Liberal Councillor and, later, Mayor of Cardiff, in addition to being Chairman of the Cardiff School Board. He also campaigned against slavery.

Conflict with the Butes

However, John Batchelor's political activity brought him into conflict with the Bute family ( John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute), who had significant land-holdings in Cardiff, including Cardiff Castle, and had built much of the docks. The Butes supported the

Tory party The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

and many believed that their conspiring led to the collapse of Batchelor's shipbuilding business.

Death and legacy

John Batchelor died in 1883 and was buried at Cathays Cemetery, alongside his son Tom Eustace, who had died in infancy.

Statue

A subscription fund was established to erect a statue in his memory. This was followed by a petition of 12,000 signatures, started by his opponents, campaigning against the statue. The statue, created by the sculptor James Milo Griffith, was finally unveiled on 16 October 1886 and stands in

The Hayes The Hayes ( cy, Yr Ais) is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and is the location ...

, Cardiff. Its plinth is inscribed “JOHN BATCHELOR B.1820 D.1883 THE FRIEND of FREEDOM”. A Conservative solicitor, T. H. Ensor, wrote a scathing piece in the ''Western Mail'', suggesting the words "Friend of Freedom" be replaced with "traitor to the Crown... hater of the clergy... sincerely mourned by unpaid creditors". He was sued unsuccessfully for libel. The case set a legal precedent in British law that the dead could not be libelled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batchelor, John 1820 births 1883 deaths People from Newport, Wales History of Newport, Wales Businesspeople from Cardiff Politicians from Cardiff Mayors of Cardiff Burials in Wales Councillors in Cardiff Councillors in Wales 19th-century Welsh politicians People of the Victorian era 19th-century Welsh businesspeople