Mr Monkey's home page Sitemap

Mr Monkey in Bristol, March 19th


"The poses are very similar, but Mr Burke doesn't have a fish"

Mr Monkey looking at a statue of Neptune Mr Monkey looking at a statue of Burke

Mr Monkey noticed there were some statues in the pedestrian area between St Augustine's Parade and Broad Quay, and he set off to look at them. First he looked at Joseph Rendall's statue of Neptune, which was erected in 1723, and moved in 1787, and in 1794, and in 1872, and left here in 1949. Beyond Neptune, Mr Monkey looked at the statue of Edmund Burke the politician, philosopher and polemicist, who was MP for Bristol from 1774 to 1780. The day he was elected Burke made a famous speech telling the people of Bristol "You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not a member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament" . He didn't bother visiting Bristol much after the election, and withdrew from the 1780 election before he could lose it. The statue was made by James Havard Thomas in 1894.

You can read an essay about Burke and Bristol at the website of Chris Bertram (Reader in Social and Political Philosophy at Bristol University).


Previous picture  Next picture

Return to Mr Monkey in Bristol



Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 14 May 2006