Sir Richard Temple

Sir Richard Temple (1826-1902)

Sir Thomas Brock, K.C.B., R.A. 1847-1922

Marble, on a stone plinth

1884

Grounds of Byculla Museum, Mumbai

Sir Richard Temple was born in Worcester. He joined the East India Company and rose to be Governor of Bombay from 1877-80. On his retirement, the citizens of Bombay [now Mumbai] raised money for a commemorative statue and Brock, also Worcester-born, was awarded the commission.

Temple was an extraordinary-looking man with a nose of Cyrano de Bergerac proportions, an awe-inspiring moustache and an extremely long neck. One day he remarked to Brock at the studio "I am told that people refer to me and my wife as Beauty and the Beast. I can't understand why they should, for I consider my wife a very beautiful woman." It had not occurred to him that she was in fact Beauty (Sankey 108-09).

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  • Close-up of Temple

    • Photograph and text kindly provided by John Sankey, whose copyright they remain.