3-074-584 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Uncovering the Sir Francis Drake statue at Tavistock, 1883. '1. Arrivals by Rail - Arch at Station. 2. Procession along Bedford-place. 3. Unveiling the Statue. 4. The Portreeve of Tavistock. 5. The Statue of Sir Francis Drake. 6. Drake's Well, near where his house stood. 7. Higher Market-street. 8. The Abbey Bridge, Tavistock...A bronze colossal statue of Sir Francis Drake has been presented to the town by the Duke of Bedford,...whose ancestor, Sir Francis Russell, was godfather to this hero of the sixteenth century...The statue, which is the work of Mr. Boehm, R.A., is 10 ft. high...and represents Admiral Drake standing bare-headed, with a mariner's compass in his hand...On the front is the inscription, "Sir Francis Drake, one of the first who in his voyages put a girdle round the globe." The monument was unveiled by the Portreeve, Mr. J. W. Daw, in the presence of a large concourse of people, after a grand procession through the town, of which, and of the street decorations and triumphal arches, we give some Illustrations...The Portreeve...declared the statue to be the gift of the Duke of Bedford. Three cheers were given for his Grace, and a resolution was passed thanking him for his gift'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.