Statement of Significance (PDF)

799 Queen Street Robert Burns Memorial Statue Memorial Committee, and he engaged the McIntosh-Gullett Granite Company of Toronto to prepare the pedestal. Celebrated sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson, cast the bronze statue. Stevenson, who designed a great many Burns statues, said that this was the best statue he had ever cast and the finest likeness of the bard. A replica of the Fredericton Burns Statue stands in Chicago, both having been cast from the same mold. The Robert Burns Memorial Statue was unveiled Thanksgiving Day, October 18, 1906 in a well-attended public ceremony. Lieutenant-Governor D. C. Fraser provided the oration and spoke for fifty-five minutes. The Burns Statue, which was draped in a Union Jack flag, was uncovered by Belle J. Hutchison, daughter of Ernest Hutchison. Ernest Hutchison was a former MLA and Past Description president of the Highland Society of The Robert Burns Memorial Statue is Miramichi. located on the Green, east of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The bronze statue, which stands ten feet six inches tall upon a granite pedestal, was cast by renowned sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson, in 1906. Heritage Value The Burns Memorial was not only the first public statue erected in Fredericton but also in the province of New Brunswick. In 1903, Oswald S. Crocket, President of the Fredericton Society of Unveiling of Burns statue, October 18, 1906 St. Andrew, proposed that the different (PANB P18-260) Scottish Societies join forces to erect a statue to the memory of Robert Burns. Due to defects in the bronze casting and Mr. O.S. Crocket was installed as the appearance of unsightly rust three Chairman of the Provincial Burns years after it was erected, the Burns Memorial Statue was recast. The new statue was placed in position without ceremony in September 1911. The Burns Statue had originally been placed on the Green opposite the Provincial Legislature, but plans to build the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in that vicinity necessitated movement of the monument. In the fall of 1956, the Burns Memorial Statue was shifted east of its original location, preparatory for the construction of the gallery. The Robert Burns Memorial Statue was erected at Fredericton, the capital, as a provincial monument to Scottish pride and spirit. Character-Defining Elements The character-defining elements associated with the Burns Memorial Statue include: • Bronze cast statue in the likeness of Robert Burns • Bronze statue a reflection of decorated career of sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson • Statue placed upon granite pedestal • Sides of plinth ornamented by bronze relief panels, depicting scenes from “Cottar’s Saturday Night,” “Tam O’Shanter,” and “John Anderson My Jo.” Beaverbrook Statue Description The idea of a statute in honour of Lord This 9-foot bronze likeness of Lord Beaverbrook caught the local Beaverbrook sits atop an 11-foot stone imagination, and given his noted pedestal in Officers’ Square, which was benevolence towards children, unveiled in 1957. contributions to the statue fund were capped at a dime, well within youthful Heritage Value budgets. School children donated dimes The heritage value of this statue is in droves, and the names of all those associated not only with the prominent who made a ten cent contribution were personality, Lord Beaverbrook, but in recorded in a ledger which was tucked the celebrated artistry of its designer, the into the base of the statue. world renowned Italian sculptor, Vincent Apap. While the dime campaign was underway, Beaverbrook ordered the In 1956, Fredericton night watchman, T. architects of his proposed Art Gallery to Donald “Shun” Ryan suggested that a call for tenders. The original site, located statue be erected in the city to honour at the southeast corner of Officers’ Lord Beaverbrook, a great benefactor to Square, was abandoned in favour of both the city and the province. William building the Gallery on The Green Maxwell Aitken, who was born in opposite the Legislature. However, with Ontario but grew up in Chatham, New apparently no debate, Officers’ Square Brunswick, was a clever and successful was chosen as the site for the entrepreneur. As a young man he Beaverbrook statue. worked as a clerk in law office where he became friends with Richard Bedford In the summer of 1957, the statue was Bennett, later Prime Minister, and James completed and ready to be shipped from Dunn, later a fabulously wealthy Naples, Italy. The unveiling was financier. Because of his savvy business scheduled for 28 August 1957, and a sense, Max Aitken quickly amassed his “half-holiday” was declared so that own fortune. In 1917 Max Aitken took everyone from school children to clerks the title of 1st Baron of Beaverbrook, and business owners could attend the becoming known world-wide as “Lord ceremony. T. Donald “Shun” Ryan Beaverbrook.” Often living abroad, unveiled the Beaverbrook Statue in a Beaverbook never forgot his New decorated and highly organized Brunswick home and roots. He would celebration, which placed children, become a great benefactor, sponsoring especially Scouts and Girl Guides in a innovation most especially in the prominent position near the front of the cultural sector leaving an incredible statue. legacy in buildings constructed on the UNB campus, and the artistic imprint On 5 September, 1957, Lord left in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Beaverbrook thanked the children for the completed in 1959. dime donations which made the statue possible. Years later in 1961, when it was suggested to create “Beaverbrook Day” on Lord Beaverbrook’s birthday (25 May), the idea was quickly accepted and implemented. Beaverbrook Day was only an observance for adults, but was celebrated as a school holiday for children. The practice lasted on a few years, coming to an end by 1965. The ledger containing the names of the donors, including a great many children, is still ensconced in the Beaverbrook Statue. Character-Defining Elements The character-defining elements associated with the Beaverbrook Statue include: • 9-foot bronze statue atop an 11- foot stone pedestal • Association with the legacy of Lord Beaverbrook Sir James Dunn Memorial Fountain Description town. The friendship forged in this law This 2-tier marble fountain, supported by office endured throughout their lives, the Three Graces, is surrounded by a and when James Dunn died, memorial inscription carved into its Beaverbrook intended to honour the granite base. The fountain, which memory of his lost friend by gifting a formerly stood on the grounds of the fountain to the City of Fredericton. famous Stowe Palace in Buckinghamshire, England, is situated In 1960, Beaverbrook contacted Bert on The Green near the Beaverbrook Art Crowther, who was selling the fountain Gallery. which formerly stood in the famous gardens at Stowe Palace. Not satisfied Heritage Value with the £950 price tag for the fountain, The heritage value of this fountain is Beaverbrook managed to get it reduced associated not only with its former it by £100. Beaverbrook arranged to placement on the Stowe estate, but also have the fountain shipped to Fredericton, with the friendship between Lord directly to the Mayor in July 1960. By Beaverbrook and Sir James Dunn. December of that year, architectural and engineer firm Mott & Miles had erected The Stowe estate had belonged to the the fountain and provided a protective Temple family from the 16th century. By winter covering. the mid-19th century, desperate times had forced the 2nd Duke of Buckingham When Myles reported to Beaverbrook to dispose of most of the household about the successful installation of the contents, with items so numerous the fountain, he made the mistake of writing sale last four days. In 1889, the that it looked “quite well.” Beaverbrook Buckingham title expired. In the 20th fired back with a sharply worded century, the manor was sold and response: “What do you mean when you converted to a school. Antique dealer, tell me that the fountain looks ‘quite Bert Crowther, purchased the fountain well’? I hope very much that the which had once decorated the garden at fountain is magnificent. If not, it will Stowe Palace, and in turn made it have to be torn down and another put in available for sale in 1960. its place.” Lord Beaverbrook had lost a valued Beaverbrook would only submit the text friend when Sir James Hamet Dunn died of the inscription for the fountain’s base in 1956. James Dunn had “climbed from once he approved the stone chosen, and ordinary circumstances” to become a the Charlotte County Granite Company wealthy financier and leading won the bid. Local firm, Diamond industrialist. Born and raised in Bathurst, Construction, installed the granite base New Brunswick, James Dunn would bearing the inscription written by meet Richard Bedford Bennett, later Beaverbrook in memory of James Dunn. Prime Minister, and William Maxwell Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook while The unveiling was projected for May working in a law office in his home 1961, but the epic flooding in late May curtailed those plans. With flooding so severe, many insisted that Central New Brunswick be declared a “disaster area.” Fredericton, which had been designated the 1961 “City of the Year” by a Montreal magazine, was under water for days. As water began to recede, testing the functioning of the fountain began. By June 9, 1961, the fountain was operational. If an official unveiling had been held, the local newspaper was silent on the ceremony. Character-Defining Elements The character-defining elements associated with the Sir James Dunn Memorial Fountain: • 2-tier marble fountain supported by the Three Graces • Granite base inscribed with memorial to Sir James Dunn • Association with Stowe Palace, Buckinghamshire, England • Association with Sir James Dunn • Tribute to the friendship between Lord Beaverbrook and Sir James Dunn .

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