Joseph Sturge memorial

About

The Joseph Sturge memorial is a memorial to the English Quaker, abolitionist and activist Joseph Sturge (1793–1859) was unveiled before a crowd of 12,000 people on 4 June 1862 at Five Ways, Birmingham, England, near his former home. The statue has been grade II listed since 8 June 1982. Standing at the boundary between Birmingham and Edgbaston, it was sculpted by John Thomas, whom Sir Charles Barry had employed as stone and wood carver on the former King Edward's Grammar School at Five Ways. He died before completing the memorial, which cost £1000. Some time around 1975, the figure of Sturge's left hand fell off.

Sturge is posed as if he were teaching, with his right hand resting on a Bible to indicate his strong Christian faith. He wears a lapel-less coat of a style favoured by contemporary Quakers. Lower on the plinth, he is flanked by two female allegorical figures: one representing Peace holds a dove and an olive branch, with a lamb at her feet, symbolic of innocence; and the other, Charity, offers comfort and succour to two Afro-Caribbean infants, recalling the fight and victory over slavery. Around the crown of the plinth are inscribed the words "Charity, Temperance and Peace...