Salford’s first MP comes home at long last
STATUE OF MP BROTHERTON BACK IN PEEL PARK
HE has come home, after vanishing, being discarded as scrap metal, and spending decades on the ‘wrong’ side of the river.
A 9ft 6in bronze statue of Salford’s first MP, Joseph Brotherton, has returned to the city’s Peel Park - 160 years after it was first put up there.
During a century and a half it has disappeared into storage, reappeared in Cheshire, then, Manchester, and finally Salford.
Liberal politician Brotherton, a progressive man, was re-elected five times, unopposed on two occasions. So when he died in 1857 a fund was set up to pay for a memorial to the man, who campaigned against the death penalty and the abolition of slavery.
He was largely responsible for the opening of Peel Park, and so a bronze statue of him was erected at the front of the park. But in 1954 the monument was taken down to make way for a new technical college, which in time would become Salford University.
It was then placed in storage until 1969 when it was sold into private ownership. There remains speculation that the statue was sold by hard-up Salford council for scrap metal.
But new owner Christopher Richards placed it in the grounds of his home in Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire. It was then sold for £5,000, in 1986, to Manchester council - who put it up on the Manchester side of the River Irwell on a walkway at Albert Bridge. So, for several decades, Joseph appeared to be gazing across the water to Salford.
Then, in 2012, he was moved 50 yards to the Salford side of the river in the garden of an office development.
But now, he has gone back to where his journey started, on a splendid new plinth in a recently revamped Peel Park. Joseph was the son of a mill owner, John Brotherton. Born in Derbyshire, he moved to Salford and became involved in the community.
He belonged to a church which advocated vegetarianism and his wife Martha was the author of the first vegetarian cookbook.
He was the first person buried in Weaste cemetery. He had also campaigned for improvements to children’s working hours and passed laws which allowed local councils to open cemeteries, libraries and museums.
Over a dozen members of the Brotherton family attended an official unveiling of the statue back in the park, including Michael Brotherton, the great, great grandson of Joseph Brotherton.
Michael was the Conservative MP for Louth, Lincolnshire from 1974 to 1983 and his wife Julia’s grandparents used to own the house in Park Drive, Bowdon which is now the headquarters of the Vegetarian Society.
Michael said: “We had a photo at home of Joseph Brotherton’s statue and when I was five or six I asked why that man was standing on a plinth. I was told it was because he was an MP and I said I will be one of those one day.
“Joseph Brotherton is not very well known but he was a highly impressive man when you think of his interests and the contribution he made. He was many years ahead of his time. This is a memorable occasion. I feel as if part of my soul has come home.”
Fergus Brotherton, the great, great, great grandson of Joseph added: “We always knew we were related to Joseph but later became aware of what a great performer he was. There is an almost endless list of the campaigns he fought or led.”
The statue of Joseph has been placed on top of a granite plinth in case of flooding.
City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “This is a real milestone in the transformation of the park and its restoration to its former Victorian glory.
Joseph Brotherton was Salford’s first elected MP in 1832 and was a true reforming politician. He campaigned against the death penalty, for the abolition of slavery, for improvements to working conditions and free education.
“He also actively supported the Municipal Corporations Bill which led to Salford having a democratically elected council and ultimately to the creation of Peel Park.
“Concern was growing about the lack of areas for recreation as towns and cities grew and ‘the middle or humbler classes’ as they were described at the time were excluded from most private or royal parks. Local MPs, including Brotherton, led the campaign to redress this.”