The origins of the Edward VII equestrian statue go back to July 1910, when the All-India Memorial Committee sought to commemorate the late king with a statue in Delhi. They turned to Thomas Brock, an established English sculptor nearing the end of a very successful career. A 2002 essay by John Anthony Sankey notes that Brock was one of Great Britain’s leading sculptors in the early 20th century, associated with the new sculpture movement which placed a renewed focus on naturalistic representation. Brock’s other notable sculptures include the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, and an equestrian statue of Edward, the Black Prince, in Leeds City Square.
Brock worked on the design for the Delhi statue over the next year, electing to depict Edward atop his horse Kildare, wearing a Field Marshal’s uniform and holding his hat in his hand.
The statue took several years to create, and production was further delayed by the First World War, which curtailed bronze casting operations. Although many sources give the year of the statue’s creation as 1919, Sankey’s research indicates it was not actually completed until 1921. In his diary, King George V recorded a 1921 visit to Brock’s studio to see the finished statue before it was shipped to India, and the Times of London reported its official unveiling in February of 1922, an event attended by the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII. “The bronze equestrian statue, itself on a high red sandstone pedestal, is distinctly good,” wrote the Times, “and the whole spectacle, with the glittering staffs and double guard of honour of the Seaforths and Gurkhas and the massed spectators, was very striking.”
Toronto’s acquisition of the statue was largely orchestrated by the Indian government and Canadian governor general Roland Michener, but the credit is generally given to Harry Jackman, who financed its transportation from Delhi to Toronto. Jackman, a former MP for Rosedale and chairman of the board of Empire Life Insurance, reportedly paid $10,000 to have the statue disassembled and shipped across the Atlantic. Available correspondence indicates that the statue was in Toronto by late 1968 and stored in a building on Cherry St. owned by the Harbour Commission. In December 1968, Ivan Forrest, the Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, wrote to Mayor William Dennison, verifying the statue’s present location and acknowledging Jackman’s preference for the statue to be erected in the northern section Queen’s Park, in a location which had previously housed a bandstand.
Sunday morning’s thunderstorms didn’t dampen spirits at the 25th annual Word on the Street.
The Toronto book and magazine festival drew an estimated 210,000 people to Queen’s Park Circle, mostly in the afternoon, organizers said.
“During setup at 8 a.m. it was really bad. Lightning, rain. Bad rain. We can handle any weather, but lightning does scare us. But that’s over,” spokesperson Stephen Weir said in an interview.
“I suspect the audience we lost in the morning arrived in the afternoon.”
This year’s roster of over 200 authors included Canadian writers Claire Cameron, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Sean Michaels, and Shani Mootoo.
“The festival is huge now,” said one festival-goer, Sue Peters of Toronto. “I haven’t been her for a few years and I can’t believe how big it is.”
The GTA's Tamil community returned to Queen's Park on Friday, but unlike previous gatherings, this one had a distinctly different tone. Gone were the flags, the banners and the chanting that had marked previous protests against the carnage taking place in their Sri Lankan homeland.
It was replaced by a quiet desperation, a feeling of hopeless grief that will culminate in a candlelight vigil after sundown.
For most of the black-clad mourners gathered at the scene, it's about remembering what was lost. The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people died in the 25-year long war.
Many were relatives of those gathered at the Legislature.
"This one is about the fallen soldiers and civilians that came to fight for our freedom ... and people back home," explains Hamzny Krish. "It's not a good idea to be celebrating. And so, that's why we're here. No one's going to be in a good mood today because ... our own flesh and blood has passed way ... Half your body is taken away."
Several hundred people showed up as the gathering began at 4pm, and so many arrived after that, many were forced to watch the proceedings from across the street.
The sombre mood likely means there won't be the kind of marches and traffic disruptions that have marked the demonstrations in the past.
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