Statue of Joseph Brotherton, Irwell Riverside, Salford

Summary

A statue of 1858 by Matthew Noble, cast in bronze by Robinson and Cottam of Pimlico and funded by public subscription, with a granite plinth of 2018.

Description

A statue of 1858 by Matthew Noble, cast by Robinson and Cottam of Pimlico and funded by public subscription, with a plinth of 2018.

MATERIALS: bronze statue, grey granite plinth.

DESCRIPTION: the statue stands 2.9m high and the plinth a further 3.5m.

The subject faces south-east and is depicted realistically, holding a speech rolled up in his right hand. His left hand rests upon an octagonal column draped in cloth, which also covers a small cotton bale behind his feet. The lapel of the frock coat he wears is adorned with a fresh buttonhole. The base of the sculpture is inscribed ‘M. NOBLE. SCULPT/ LONDON. 1858’.

The square plinth has a plain step, a base with moulded step, a plain, slightly tapering shaft and a moulded cornice. The front face is inscribed ‘JOSEPH BROTHERTON/ THE FIRST/ AND FOR UPWARDS OF TWENTY FOUR SUCCESSIVE YEARS/ (FROM 1832 TO 1857)/ THE FAITHFUL/ REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BOROUGH OF SALFORD/ IN THE/ HOUSE OF COMMONS/ BORN MAY XXII MDCCLXXXIII/ DIED JANUARY VII MDCCCLVII’.

The right-hand face is inscribed ‘ERECTED BY/ PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ MDCCCLVIII’.

The left-hand face is inscribed ‘MY RICHES CONSIST/ NOT IN THE EXTENT OF MY POSSESSIONS/ BUT IN THE FEWNESS OF MY WANTS’.

History

The statue of Joseph Brotherton was commissioned and first installed in Peel Park in 1858, after an extremely successful memorial fund was established following his death.

Joseph (born 1783) was a partner in his father’s textile-spinning business, but retired in 1819. Having become the minister of the Bible Christian Church in 1816, this became his focus. The church required abstention from meat and alcohol, and Brotherton was later a founder member of the Vegetarian Society. Under Brotherton’s ministry the church established a day school, workers’ evening classes, a reading room and a lending library.

Brotherton was also involved in local politics and reforming causes and was one of the backers of the founding of the Manchester Guardian newspaper. After the Reform Act of 1832, he was returned as Salford’s first MP, later winning re-election five times. In parliament he championed (among other causes), improved workers’ conditions and the establishment of public museums, parks and libraries. It was in response to a personal attack made on him during a parliamentary debate on children's employment in the cotton factories that he made one of his most famous remarks, declaring that his riches consisted ‘not so much in the largeness of my means as in the fewness of my wants' (quoting Epicurus). Brotherton was also an ardent pacifist and advocate of free trade, and known for wearing a daily-refreshed buttonhole.

His criticism of existing local government contributed to the establishment of Salford’s new corporation in 1844. Also in that year, he was elected chairman of the committee (appointed by a public meeting) to raise funds and establish public parks in Manchester. The resulting parks were opened on 22 August 1846, beginning with Peel Park (National Heritage List for England – NHLE – entry 1487578).

After two years of ill health, Brotherton died on 7 January 1857 while travelling in a bus from Pendleton to Manchester, a route that passed the park. A memorial fund quickly raised over £2,550. Matthew Noble, who had previously sculpted a bronze statue of Robert Peel and carved a marble statue of Queen Victoria (NHLE 1386181) for the park, was commissioned to provide a statue to be sited near them. It cost £1,050. Another memorial (NHLE 1386106) was also placed above Brotherton’s grave in Weaste Cemetery – the first interment in a municipal cemetery for which he had campaigned.

At the inauguration of this statue in August 1858 Sir John Potter, who had been with Brotherton when he died, stated that he hoped that it 'would remain under the good care of the present mayor, and the future authorities in Salford, and that it might ever stand to remind them of the good deeds of him to whose memory it was raised.' However in 1954 it was taken down to make way for the Maxwell Building, now part of Salford University. After 15 years in storage it was sold to the owner of Gawsworth Old Hall. It stood there until 1986 when it was bought by Manchester City Council and placed on the Manchester side of the River Irwell, facing Salford. An inscribed face of the original plinth remains (in 2023) there, on Riverside Walk. In 2012 the statue was relocated to the garden of an office development on the Salford bank of the river, but without a plinth. In May 2018 the council finally returned it to Peel Park, on a plinth whose form is a close replica of the original.

Reasons for Listing

The statue of Joseph Brotherton, a bronze statue of 1858 by Matthew Noble, funded by public subscription, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* Joseph Brotherton is a figure of national note as a campaigner for reform and democracy, particularly for public parks, and also as a founder member of the Vegetarian Society.

Architectural interest:

* it is a good example of the work of the noted sculptor Matthew Noble, and its lifelike depiction of the subject has strong aesthetic and artistic merit.

Group value:

* it has a strong historical relationship with the surrounding registered park, which was created by a public fundraising campaign that Brotherton chaired.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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