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Larger than life-size bronze statue shows Peel in modern dress in the attitude of public speaking; his right arm is held out with the hand open, his left hand rests on his hip. The statue surmounts a pedestal of Aberdeen granite. Bronze reliefs on two sides of the pedestal represent COMMERCE, a female figure, her right arm resting on a tower, and NAVIGATION, a sailor looking out to sea.

The project to erect a memorial in Peel's birthplace proceeded comparatively smoothly from the first public meeting early in July 1850. The general idea of providing a 'substantial and appropriate memorial' was quickly refined into erecting 'a colossal bronze statue upon a suitable pedestal'. The site chosen was the Market Place, considered to be the centre of the town, though the surrounding buildings were less than grand. A public subscription was opened, and some £1,500 was pledged immediately. The final sum collected was over £2,700, ranging from the ten, twenty and fifty guineas subscriptions of local manufacturers to the collections organised in factories and the threepences donated by local children. A sub-committee of five - Edmund Grundy, Robert Kay, John Shaw, Samuel Woodcock and William Harper - oversaw the commissioning of the memorial. It was decided not to hold an open competition but to invite leading sculptors to submit designs. The invited sculptors included William Behnes, Joseph Durham, John and Edward Foley, William Calder Marshall, John Gibson, John Hogan, Samuel Manning, Baron Marochetti, Thomas Milnes and William Theed. The instructions sent to them included a plan of the site and the recommendation that if they introduced 'accessories which may be considered illustrative of the life or character of Sir Robert Peel' into their designs then these were to be subordinate to the statue itself. There was to be no premium for any of the designs submitted; the chosen sculptor receiving a fee not exceeding £2,500, exclusive of installation costs. Three months were allowed for the submission of designs. But having set out with this plan, the committee changed their position, agreeing to consider designs from other artists. These included Matthew Noble, the architect, George Truefitt, and, more locally, Thomas Duckett of Preston and a Mr Chatwood of Bury. In the end some twenty sculptors and architects provided designs. The statuettes were put on public display in the town's recently opened assembly room. Local journalists reviewing the various models found much to criticise. The general committee's choice came down to the submissions by Baily and Marochetti, with the committee finally deciding by 20 votes to 13 votes to select Baily's 'No. 1' design. This showed Peel in modern dress, standing on a plinth which featured wheat, a symbolism which concerned some of the committee who felt it might be interpreted as 'Peel trampling upon agriculture.' Baily had been eager to obtain the commission after his disappointment in not being chosen for Manchester's Peel monument, and submitted five designs in all, including Peel in a toga. In the opinion of the correspondent of the Manchester Courier the committee had not chosen the best statue. A plaster model of the final design, signed and dated 1852, is in Bury Art Gallery. Baily met the committee in Bury towards the end of February. His relationship with the committee was not without its difficulties - 'the Bury people are a queer lot', he confided privately - particularly when it came to arranging payments as the work progressed. An article in the Art Journal on the subject of the unwillingness of Lancashire memorial committees in the 'north of England' to pay sculptors in instalments was presumably prompted by discussions with Baily. The bronze statue was completed by August 1852, having been cast at Robinson's foundry in Pimlico. Arrangements were made for the unveiling ceremony though there was a slight alteration in the final position of the statue to take account of changes proposed to the Market Place. Bury's Peel statue was unveiled in September 1852, the previous months having seen Peel statues inaugurated in Salford, Preston, Tamworth and Leeds. It was a day of celebration that began with a procession from the house - Chamber Hall - in which Peel had been born. Frederick Peel, Peel's son and the recently elected MP for Bury, unveiled the statue. The correspondent of the Illustrated London News followed the general sentiment in approving of Baily's representation of Peel. Baily had succeeded 'in placing the open surtout in a manner exceedingly characteristic. The features are truthful and striking. The figure looks rather massive in regard to breadth, but it is very much admired and highly spoken of by those present who were best acquainted with Sir Robert Peel.' If Baily had included some telling points of detail such as the ribbon attached to Peel's eye-glass, sharp-eyed observers were to point out that the treatment of the waistcoat appeared to be incorrect, as Peel buttoned his waistcoats on the opposite side following a shooting accident which resulted in the loss of the thumb on his right hand. This 'mistake' apparently had been pointed out to Baily, who decided not to alter the waistcoat. Baily's statue of Peel has remained in the old Market Place though over the years other changes have both enhanced and devalued this important public space. The siting of underground public conveniences with an entrance close to the statue was not one of the most sensitive examples of civic improvement. Other changes have included the removal of the bronze railings which protected the statue. No action has been taken on those occasions when it has been suggested that the statue might be moved to another location in the town

Born in Bury in 1788, Robert Peel was the son of Sir Robert Peel (1750-1830), whose considerable fortune was derived from the printing and finishing of cotton cloths. The elder Peel served as a MP from 1790 and was responsible for pioneering legislation for the welfare of textile workers. Peel spent his early life in Bury before the family moved to Tamworth. He was a natural scholar and his formal education was at Harrow and then Oxford where he achieved two first- class degrees. His political career was equally successful. In 1809 he entered parliament as a Tory MP and soon demonstrated his political abilities. He was Secretary of State for Ireland from 1812-1818. On the return of the Tories to government in 1822, he became Home Secretary, in which office he initiated reforms in the police and the criminal justice system. After the passing of the 1832 Reform Act, Peel recognised the importance of broadening his party's appeal and the need for them to adopt change. He served briefly as prime minister in 1833-1834. When he returned to power in 1841 he introduced tariff and fiscal reforms, including the re-introduction of the income tax. His willingness to embrace the ideas of free trade culminated in his most radical of all his political decisions: the repeal of the Corn Laws, legislation which was symbolically as well as economically important to the natural supporters of the Conservative Party. Peel's decision to repeal the Corn Laws, a decision taken during the crisis of the Irish famine, saw him forsake the natural interests of his party for the wider needs of the nation. It was a decision that resulted in him being seen as a traitor among large sections of his party though his stature and popularity rose in the nation, especially among the labouring classes who associated their subsequent prosperity with the abolition of the Corn Laws. This was especially the case in his native county. His death in 1850, following a fall from his horse, saw an unprecedented outpouring of grief and sorrow.

circa

raw year

Condition

At risk

Inscriptions

Signatures

Statue

Bronze

307cm high

Pedestal

Granite

369cm high x 120cm square

Reliefs

Bronze

80cm high x 50 cm wide

Metallic staining

On bas-relief panels

Bird guano

On figure

Biological growth

Algae on figure

None

Graffiti

On front of pedestal