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The statue of George Palmer stands in Palmer Park, in
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, Berkshire. The statue, by
George Blackall Simonds George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Biography George was the second son of George Simonds Senior of Read ...
, was unveiled in 1891, though it was originally in Broad Street and only later moved to Palmer Park. The statue has been classed Grade II Listed monument since 14 December 1978.


Overview

The statue was given by the towns-folk of Reading, "in recognition of his services and gifts to the town",DNB "George Palmer" and unveiled 4 November 1891, the same day of the opening of the 49 acre Palmer Park. Four thousand subscribed to the cost of the statue. The opening of the park and the unveiling of the statue have been described as "the biggest celebration Reading had ever seen. It was originally sited in Broad Street, but was moved in 1930 to its current location. The statue depicts Palmer, standing, with top hat and umbrella clasped in his right hand, while his left holds his lapel. It was the first statue in Britain with an umbrella. The statue was unveiled on 14 November 1891, the same day that Palmer Park was given to the city. The statue is in bronze, mounted on a substantial pink granite plinth, with moulded cornice and base.


Subject

George Palmer (1818–1897) was a Quaker baker, known for his partnership with Thomas Huntley, which formed the biscuit firm
Huntley and Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and ra ...
. Palmer invented machinery which stamped biscuits in bulk. A noted philanthropist, he gave the site of Palmer Park to Reading in 1891, as well as King's Meadow. His family also donated the site of
Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
. The borough also granted him Freedom of the City, the first person ever honoured thus, in recognition of his many contributions to civic life.


Artist

George Blackall Simonds George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Biography George was the second son of George Simonds Senior of Read ...
(1843–1929) was a Reading sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery. He exhibited consistently at the Royal Academy. Simonds studied under
Johannes Schilling Johannes Schilling (23 June 1828 in Mittweida – 21 March 1910 in Klotzsche near Dresden) was a German sculptor. Life and work Johannes Schilling was the youngest of five children. A year after his birth, his family moved to Dresden, where he g ...
in Dresden, and
Louis Jehotte Louis Jehotte (7 November 1803 or 1804 – 3 February 1884) was a prominent Belgian sculptor working in a realist tradition that was inflected, who was responsible for the bronze equestrian monument to Charlemagne erected on the in Liège, Belg ...
at The Academy of Brussels. He created over 200 pieces in many different media. While ''The Falconer'' (1873) is in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
, New York, much of his larger work is to be found in or near Reading. Substantial pieces were also commissioned for Indian locations, Allahabad and
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. The
Maiwand Lion The ''Maiwand Lion'' is a sculpture and war memorial in the Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was unveiled in December 1886 to commemor ...
(1866) in the
Forbury Gardens Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one ...
is his, the statue of Queen Victoria at the Town Hall and the statue of H. Blandy, another
mayor of Reading In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
. In 1922 he designed the war memorial at Bradfield, Berkshire, which commemorated the deaths of local men in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
including his son, a lieutenant with the
South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...
.


References


Further reading

* Reading University, special collections, HP OS 508 Scrap book


External links


Palmer statue and Huntley and Palmer's delivery van ''c'' 1920
(original in
Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, George Sculptures by George Blackall Simonds s g s Palmer, George s