The Prince of Wales, on Saturday, the 17th, as was recorded in our last week's paper, unveiled the memorial statue of Sir Rowland Hill, the founder of the Penny Postage system, at the south-east corner of the Royal Exchange, facing Cornhill. His Royal Highness was there met by the Lord Mayor and Sheriff's of London, with the officers of the Corporation, and by the Postmaster-General, the Right Hon. Henry Fawcett, M.P., and Mr. Stevenson Blackwood, Secretary to the Post Office. Many of the Mayors of provincial towns, who were to dine with the Lord Mayor and the Prince of Wales at the Mansion House, were also present at this ceremony, and the son of Sir Rowland Hill, Mr. Pearson Hill, with others of the family. An address was presented to his Royal Highness, which, after reciting the benefits to the country that had resulted from the labours of Sir Rowland Hill, stated that the sum of £14,000 had been subscribed for the memorial. This, in addition to the statue and a bust in Westminster Abbey, included the foundation of a benevolent fund for the succour of aged and distressed Post Office servants and their widows and orphans throughout the United Kingdom. In compliance with the Lord Mayors' request, his Royal Highness stepped in front of the, draped monument, and pulled the cord that allowed the covering of the statue to fall—a proceeding which was greeted with cordial applause. The statue is life size, of bronze, on a granite pedestal; it shows Sir Rowland Hill standing erect, in ordinary dress, with a pan in one hand and a note-book in the other. The likeness has been well caught by the artist, Mr. Onslow Ford, and the attitude is easy and natural. His Royal Highness congratulated the artist on his work, and observed that the, present state of the atmosphere of London with regard to smoke made bronze a much more suitable material than marble.
SOURCE: The Illustrated London News, July 1, 1882, p.22
