“Memorial to Sir Alfred Lewis Jones” by Sir George Frampton

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Memorial to Sir Alfred Lewis Jones

Sir George Frampton, R.A., P.R.B.S. (1860-1928)

Unveiled 1913

Bronze, on Aberdeen granite

Pier Head, Liverpool

Sir Alfred Lewis Jones (1845-1909) was born in Carmarthen in South Wales, but brought up and educated in Liverpool, making his mark as a shipbuilder and public benefactor there. Yet another of those amazingly energetic Victorian entrepreneurs, he held various high positions in public life, amongst them President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and Founder and President of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Through the latter, says the inscription on this memorial, he made "science tributary to civilisation in Western Africa and the colonies of the British Empire."

Other Views

Close-up of the statue of Liverpool

Close-up of base

Liverpool (homepage)

Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee 2009/11

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL or cite it in a print one.]

Rather short and stocky in personal appearance, Sir Alfred is well served by an allegorical tribute, which places him squarely in the city's tradition of maritime progress/public service. At the top of the memorial is the figure of Liverpool, wearing a crown and dressed in a tabard decorated with the city's heraldic symbols; she holds a small globe with a ship on it. On either side, below, are two other female figures, representing Research (with a beautifully detailed book and very precisely modelled microscope) and the Fruits of Industry, with little wings in her hair, a caduceus to symbolise medicine, and a more traditional basket of fruit and plants (cf. one of Conrad Dressler's relief panels on St George's Hall, Liverpool). But the fruit is particularly apt here, in view of Sir Alfred's promotion of the banana. He encouraged it as a crop in the Canary Islands and West Indies, brought it to England in what became known as "banana boats," and popularised it by first distributing it free for costermongers to sell (see Read).

The seated figures, looking poised yet bending forward eagerly, are particularly expressive. The really delightful elements, though, are the details, such as the lively little dolphins above the relief of Sir Alfred, and the chubby putti at either end of the swags at the main figure's feet. To the rear is another relief medallion, this time of a medieval sailing ship (see Cavanagh 136). The memorial stands in front of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company Building, facing the docks and harbour. Nothing could be more fitting.

Bibliography

Cavanagh, Terry. Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1997.

Read, J. Gordon. "Jones, Sir Alfred Lewis (1845-1909)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 8 May 2011.

Last modified 8 May 2011