请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 Political Martyrs' Monument
释义

  1. Inscription

  2. History of the monument

  3. The Martyrs

  4. References

  5. Bibliography

{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}

The Political Martyrs Monument, located in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, commemorates five political reformists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is a {{convert|90|ft|m|abbr=on}} tall obelisk on a square-plan base plinth all constructed in ashlar sandstone blocks. As part of the Burial Ground it is Category A listed.[1]

Inscription

The monument is inscribed on one side with—

To

the memory of

  • Thomas Muir
  • Thomas Fyshe Palmer
  • William Skirving
  • Maurice Margarot

and

  • Joseph Gerrald

Erected by the Friends of Parliamentary Reform

In England and Scotland.

1844

On another are two inscriptions from men commemorated on the monument—

"I have devoted myself to the cause of The People. It is a good cause—it shall ultimately prevail—it shall finally triumph.

Speech of Thomas Muir in the Court of Judiciary on the 30th August 1793.

I know that what has been done these two days will be Re-Judged.

Speech of William Skirving in the Court of Judiciary on the 7th January, 1794."

History of the monument

In 1837 the Radical politician Joseph Hume MP initiated a plan to erect a monument to the five men. Hume chaired a London-based committee to raise public subscriptions in support of the monument and settled on its location being in Edinburgh. In that year the publisher William Tait of Edinburgh wrote on their behalf to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh requesting that land be made available on Calton Hill for this end.[2]

The foundation stone was laid by Hume on 21 August 1844, with 3,000 people gathered for the occasion.[3] The Old Calton Burial Ground, and other parts of Calton Hill, are home to a number of other monuments and memorials. The monument was designed by Thomas Hamilton, who is also responsible for a number of other structures on Calton Hill including the former Royal High School building and the memorial to Robert Burns.

In February 1852 Hume initiated the construction of a second Monument at Nunhead Cemetery in London. This monument stands at {{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}} high.[4]

The Martyrs

The five men commemorated—two from Scotland and three from England—were imprisoned for campaigning for parliamentary reform under the influence of the ideals of the French Revolution. Specifically, their support of Palmer's 1793 address that advocated for universal suffrage and annual parliaments was considered incendiary.[5] The five were accused of sedition in a series of trials in 1793 and 1794, and sentenced to terms of penal transportation in the British colony of New South Wales.[6] All but Gerrald travelled together on the convict transport Surprize; Gerrald left later on the transport Sovereign.

Only Palmer and Margarot served their full 14-year sentences and were released. Palmer remained in New South Wales and established a thriving beer-brewing operation near Sydney Cove; he died of a fever on a trading voyage back to England.[6] Margarot departed the colony when his sentence expired, and was the only "Scottish Martyr" to return to the British Isles.

Muir escaped in early 1796, stowing away aboard an American ship and ultimately making his way to revolutionary France where he died on 26 January 1799. On 16 March 1796 Gerrald died in Port Jackson, from tuberculosis exacerbated by a weakness brought on by excessive drinking. Skirving died three days later from either dysentery or an overdose of laudanum.[6]

References

1. ^{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB27920|desc=Regent Road, Calton Old Burial Ground and Monuments, including Screen Walls to Waterloo Place|cat=A|access-date=28 March 2019}}
2. ^{{Canmore |num=117414 |desc=Old Calton Burial Ground, Martyrs' Monument |access-date=24 September 2012|fewer-links=yes}}
3. ^Bewley 1981
4. ^"The Scottish Martyrs" by Wally MacFarlane, a pamphlet published by the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.
5. ^Davis, Michael T. Gerrald, Joseph (1763–1796).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Accessed 22 November 2015
6. ^Knight (ed) 1983, pp. xxi-xxii

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |title =Journal of Daniel Paine, 1794-1797, together with documents illustrating the beginning of government boat-building and timber-gathering in New South Wales, 1795-1805 | editor1= Knight, R.J.B. | editor2=Frost, Alan| year =1983 | publisher =Library of Australian History | isbn =0908120494}}
  • {{cite book|title = Muir of Huntershill|last=Bewley|first=Christina|year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0192117688}}
{{coord|55.9534|-3.1858|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Martyrs Monument}}

6 : Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh|Monuments and memorials in Edinburgh|Obelisks in Scotland|Martyrs' monuments and memorials|Calton Hill|Listed monuments and memorials in Scotland

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/11/11 7:45:10