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LONDON STATUES - BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY

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  BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY      Not all statues celebrate conquerors or kings. This penultimate group reflects a different kind of power: money, enterprise, and - at least in part - the impulse to give something back.      As usual, t he accompanying portraits are courtesy of  The National Portrait Gallery :  For use in non-commercial projects (e.g. online in scholarly and non-profit publications and websites, blogs, local society newsletters and family history).  THOMAS GRESHAM (c.1519-1579)      Founder of the Royal Exchange , Thomas Gresham was the archetypal Tudor financier -royal agent, currency fixer, and unapologetic operator. His Exchange, opened in 1571, formalised London’s role as a trading hub to rival Antwerp. Gresham’s name lives on in economics via 'Gresham’s Law' (bad money drives out good), though he never actually wrote it down. He is also commemorated among the allegorical merchant worthies on Holborn...
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LONDON STATUES - POLITICIANS

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LONDON STATUES - POLITICIANS      Some British Politicians who made their mark without getting the top job. But they still got a statue.     First, a gem of a trivia question: Apart from the obvious, what did British politician John Wilkes and Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth have in common?     As usual, t he accompanying portraits are courtesy of  The National Portrait Gallery :  For use in non-commercial projects (e.g. online in scholarly and non-profit publications and websites, blogs, local society newsletters and family history). JOHN WILKES (1727–1797)     Radical journalist, MP and thorn in the side of the establishment, Wilkes became a symbol of liberty and free speech through his battles with the Crown over his newspaper The North Briton . His repeated expulsions from Parliament only increased his popularity, making him one of the first truly “public” politicians. His No. 45 issue attacking the King made '45' int...
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