2-979-870 - /Heritage Images

'The New Statue of Cromwell in Front of Westminster Hall', c1900. Statue of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653-1658, designed by Hamo Thornycroft and erected in 1899. It was unveiled on the tercentenary of Cromwell's birth. 'Many people were shocked at the idea of a statue erected to one whom they could only associate with the historical trial at Westminster Hall and the execution at Whitehall, and the Irish were furious...Lord Rosebery...dismissed the execution of Charles the First as a political blunder..."Happy is the dynasty that which can permit without fear the memory of a regicide to be honoured in its capital".' Illustration after a photograph. From "Cassell's History of England, Vol. IX". [Cassell and Company, Limited, London, Paris, New York & Melbourne]