Queen Victoria
"Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than any previous British monarch. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Though a constitutional monarch, privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe" and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha."
Wikipedia
The Memorial
The statue was carved in marble by Thomas Earle in London and is situated at the western end of Pearson Park, close to a lake. The park was the first public park in Hull and the land for the park was donated by Zacharia Pearson, Mayor of Hull and was opened in 1861.
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In Victorian times it was common to erect many public statues and because Victoria's reign lasted for 63 years there are many statues of her, not only in the UK but around the world. This statue is slightly unusual in as much as it depicts her as fairly young because she was only 35 when she visited Hull.
The statue depicts her in a seated position, with her feet on a low stool, with a robe tied round her and a coronet on her head.
The base of the statue has her coat of arms and the coat of arms of the city of Hull and the following inscription on a shield.
THIS STATUE OF
QUEEN VICTORIA
DESIGNED
TO COMMEMORATE
HER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO HULL
THE 14th OF OCTOBER 1854
WAS PRESENTED
TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS TOWN
BY WILLIAM HENRY MOSS
MAYOR
1863
The base of the statue is enclosed by short railings with seated golden lions at each corner.