NAM.2017-09-7-13-23

Photograph showing Duke of Cambridge unveiling a statue to General Charles George Gordon on a camel, which was placed temporarily on St Martin’s Place, London, in 1902. The Duke and his entourage sit in an open-topped carriage pulled by two horses whilst a large crowd looks on. At the bottom of the image the bearskin caps of several Grenadier Guardsmen can be seen. The statue, commemorating the life and service of Gen Gordon shows him sitting on a camel wearing a fez. The first casting of the statue, by Edward Onslow Ford, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1890 before being erected at Brompton Barracks, the Royal Engineers barracks in Chatham. This second casting was unveiled in St Martin’s Place before being shipped to Sudan and erected in Gordon Avenue, Khartoum. It remained there until 1958 when it returned to England and is now situated at Gordon’s old school. From an album of 68 photographs compiled by or presented to Col Maxwell Earle DSO. The album is entitled: ‘Personal Album, M. Earle. South Africa - 1900-1904’, but covers the period 1899-1909. The images and group portraits are mainly taken in England, such as in London, or Aldershot, plus a few taken in South Africa during the Boer War.