Book: London's Statues of Women by Juliet Rix

Catholic Mary Seacole, pioneer nurse and first named black women commemorated in a statue, 20I6 Bronze.by Martin Jennings on The Queen's Walk SEI. Photo Juliet Rix.

Surprisingly this is the first exploration of women's statues in the Metropolis.

Juliet Rix is a writer and broadcaster who has written two children's books and two travel books.

The book cover displays Rix's favourite statue of Bronze Woman, 2008, a celebration of Caribbean heritage in Stockwell Memorial Gardens, which she sees as a joyful representation of Universal Motherhood.

On the reverse is the 20I8 statue of Suffragette Millicent Fawcett, President of the National Union of Women's,facing the Houses of Parliament in Parliament Square. She holds a banner proclaiming 'Courage calls to Courage Everywhere'.

The first London statues of women were either Queens Regnant, Consorts or saints. Elizabeth I is possibly the oldest female represented at St Dunstan -in -the - West, Fleet Street. Originally created for Ludgate, the present statue is either the renovated image of 1586 or a post Great Fire of London construction of 1670- 99.

Otherwise, the oldest located at Temple Bar, gateway to the City of London in 1672 portrays Anne of Denmark, Catholic wife of James VI of Scotland. Commissioned by her grandson, Charles II, whose statue and that of his father Charles I and grandfather King James I of England also feature in this Stuart memorial.

Interestingly the only British statue of Mary, Queen of Scots, from whom the dynasty descended, is in Fleet Street, above what is now Pret a Manger, formerly a Scottish insurance company,since 1905.

The first non royal female monument is also the first memorial to any actor. A statue of Sarah Siddons, the great Shakespearean tragedienne, was unveiled in1897 by Sir Henry Irving who commissioned it in Paddington Green, where she retired to.

St.Ethelburga d.686, was the first Anglo Saxon abbess of a monastic order in England. Her statue was erected in 1892 outside London's oldest church which she built as a chapel to Barking Abbey, now All Hallows by the Tower.

Mary of Nazareth outside St James' Church, Piccadilly,1925 captures Mary's reaction at the Annunciation. It is a striking figure of simplicity by Charles Wheeler, who later created the female sculptures on the Bank of England.

Epstein's powerful lead with bronze haloed Madonna and Child,1953, on the former site of the Holy Child Jesus Convent at Dean Mews, Cavendish Square, draws on Byzantium Platytera icons of Mary, 'who signs the way,' presenting her son Jesus to the World .Her arms are by her side but the palms, turned upwards and outwards, gesture towards her son whose outstretched arms not only foreshadow the crucifixion , but embrace all. Epstein's preparatory work for this universally acclaimed spiritual masterpiece is in the Vatican Museum, although this is not mentioned in the book.

The modern martyrs, I998, depicted on Westminster Abbey's West Door facade include three women. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, founded a religious order after her husband was assassinated, dedicating her life to the sick and poor. She was murdered in the Russian revolution. Both Manche Masemol, a South African girl and Indian Muslim Quamar Zia , known as Esther John, were murdered for becoming Christians.

The first statue mentioned is of mathematician Ada Lovelace,2022, depicted as an elegant Victorian lady with motifs of early computing, which she pioneered, behind her incorporating mathematical posers. It's proximity rather high up on Millbank Quarter Horseferry Road, Westminster make it easy to miss

Ada Salter, first female mayor of London in 1922, had a key role in creating the capital's Green Belt and was responsible for greening the entire borough of Bermondsey. Hence, she is depicted in 2014 with a spade in her hand looking towards the Thames.

The first statue of a named black woman was the indomitable Catholic, Mary Seacole, nursing heroine of the Crimea. She has two representations, a 2D portrait sculpture at St.Mary's Paddington Green, 2013 and an impressive bronze monument outside St. Thomas' Hospital, 2016. She is seen striding forth determinedly with her nursing bag slung across her chest.

Situated on The Albert Embankment near Lambeth Palace is a bust of war heroine Violette Szabo, the young Catholic widow executed by the Nazis representing all those agents killed in Special Operative Executive aiding the French Resistance .The first Asian woman to be commemorated was another WWII heroine member of SOE, Noor Inayat Khan whose bust was unveiled in Gordon Square Gardens in 2012.

Amongst the variety of inspirational women profiled are allegorical and mythical figures featured on buildings and fountains

Interviews with some of the sculptors adds further interest to this book which is packed with pictures and information, laced with touches of ironic humour. Three useful 'Statue Safaris', with maps covering Westminster, Bloomsbury and Covent Garden, and the City provide a new vision of the capital and it's women waiting to be discovered.

London's Statues of Women, by Juliet RIX
Published by Safe Haven Books Ltd. (London) 2025
ISBN 978I 0685 I62I07
Price £16.99

www.julietrix.com