The inscription,
in raised lettering on the upper part of the memorial, reads:
Daniel
De-Foe
Born 1661
Died 1731
Author of
Robinson
Crusoe
The inscription on the base of the
monument reads:
This monument is the
result of an appeal
in the "Christian World" newspaper
to the boys and
girls of England for funds
to place a suitable memorial upon the
grave
of
Daniel De-Foe
It represents the united contributions
of
seventeen hundred persons.
Sept 1870
The monument is Grade II* listed and
the English
Heritage website tells us:
"Obelisk monument to Daniel Defoe, 1870, designed by CC
Creeke of Bournemouth and carved by Samuel Horner
MATERIALS: Sicilian marble on sandstone base;
wrought-iron railings
DESCRIPTION: The monument takes the form of a tall
marble obelisk with a three-stage stepped base, set upon a square pedestal with
projections resembling the ends of a coffin-lid. All this rests upon a
rectangular plinth and enclosed by low ornamental railings with fleur de lys
finials. The total height is about five metres. The main inscription upon the
shaft of the obelisk names 'Daniel De-Foe' as 'author of Robinson Crusoe', while
a subsidiary inscription on the pedestal describes the appeal in Christian World
magazine that led to the erection of the monument.
HISTORY: Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731) is a key figure in
the history of English prose, whose work had a decisive influence on the
development of both British journalism and the English novel. Born into a family
of prosperous London merchants, he was initially intended for the Nonconformist
ministry, but after completing his education at Charles Morton's Academy at
Newington Green he decided to follow his father into trade, eventually
developing a complex portfolio of (intermittently disastrous) business interests
including haberdashery, shipping and brickmaking. Angered by the discrimination
facing his fellow Nonconformists under the Catholic King James II, he took arms
in the Duke of Monmouth's unsuccessful rebellion of 1685, and afterwards began
to write political pamphlets in support of religious freedom; his satirical The
Shortest Way with Dissenters led to his being placed in the pillory in 1703. His
literary output was vast, comprising at least 318 titles spanning trade
literature, travel writing, economics, political theory, satire, poetry and a
series of long experimental prose narratives - of which the most famous are
Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders - which laid the foundations for the
development of the novel. His thrice-weekly magazine The Review is credited with
establishing the future direction of periodical journalism, and many of his
longer journalistic works, especially A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great
Britain and A Journal of the Plague Year, are still read as key documents of
their times. As a pamphleteer, political informer and agent provocateur he was
at the heart of the partisan intrigues of his day, working for both Whig and
Tory administrations, and frequently threatened with arrest by infuriated
opponents.
Defoe's literary reputation rose steadily after his
death, based largely on the ever-increasing popularity of Robinson Crusoe as a
children's book, and by the mid C19 it was felt that the simple headstone over
the Defoe family vault in Bunhill Fields was unworthy of his fame. A
subscription was raised amongst the readers of the children's magazine Christian
World, who were each invited to give 'not less than sixpence' towards the cost
of a more substantial memorial; more than £150 was collected, far exceeding
expectations, and the Bournemouth sculptor Samuel Horner was commissioned to
carve a marble obelisk to the designs of CC Creeke. The monument was erected at
a ceremony on 16 September 1870, attended by three of Defoe's
great-granddaughters. According to a contemporary newspaper report, the
sculptor, who was in charge of the excavation, discovered a coffin apparently
bearing Defoe's name, whereupon 'the spectators...wished to carry off the bones
as relics, and Mr Horner was only able to prevent the accomplishment of these
desires by calling in the aid of the police.'
Bunhill Fields was first enclosed as a burial ground in
1665. Thanks to its location just outside the City boundary, and its
independence from any Established place of worship, it became London's principal
Nonconformist cemetery, the burial place of John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, William
Blake and other leading religious and intellectual figures. It was closed for
burials in 1853, laid out as a public park in 1867, and re-landscaped following
war damage by Bridgewater and Shepheard in
1964-5."