Statue to honour News bird charity founder
PIONEER’S CAMPAIGN OVER HAT FEATHERS LED TO CREATION OF RSPB
HORRIFIED by the era’s fashions of feathers, Emily Williamson launched a campaign to stop the
Victorian trade in plumes for women’s hats.
Her tireless campaigning led to the creation in 1889 of what is now known and loved across the world as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - RSPB.
Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury was her home - and her passion. Now a bronze statue to honour her life and work will stand proud there in the gardens as a tribute to her legacy.
Four designs by sculptors have been shortlisted and macquettes will be unveiled in July to mark the centenary of the Importation of Plumage (Protection) Act. They are by sculptors Laury Dizengremel, Eve Shepherd, Clare Abbatt and Billie Bond.
The winning design is set to be announced in November, with proposals to unveil the final statue in April 2023 to mark what would have been Emily’s 168th birthday.
The statue campaign was the brainchild of Didsbury councillor Andrew Simcock and Tessa Boase, a journalist and social historian whose 2018 book on the suffragettes, ‘Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather,’ uncovered the story of the Manchester-founding of the RSPB.
Coun Simcock said more than 6,000 people voted for their favourite designs from a twelve-strong list.
After the July unveiling, the shortlisted designs will go on a tour of the UK with the public able to see them at RSPB reserves before they vote.
Again, the selection committee will make a final decision based on the public’s feedback.
Coun Simcock said: “I’m really pleased we have a good selection of designs. No money for this statue will be coming from the city council. To donate please go to our website www.emilywilliamsonstatue. com
“The city council is reviewing its public monuments and asking Manchester residents for their views. I hope they will support the idea a statue of Emily Williamson being erected in Fletcher Moss Park.”
A middle-class wife of a solicitor, Emily persuaded Victorian society ladies to flock to the avian cause. Their target was the excesses of the millinery trade in the 19th century.
In the late 1800s feathers - the more exotic the better - were the height of fashion. It led to the mass slaughter of birds for bonnets. The harvesting of the feathers was brutal, with gulls having their wings pulled off while still alive, and great crested
grebes almost becoming extinct in Britain.
At its Edwardian peak, the trade was worth some £20 million a year - around £200 million in today’s money.
Emily lived at The Croft, now a cafe in the park. In 1891 her society merged with the Fur and Feather League in Croydon to become The Society for the Protection of Birds and the group was granted a royal charter in 1904.
The Plumage Act - described by the RSPB as the ‘triumph’ of Emily’s campaign - came into force in 1921 and is said by the charity to have been ‘critical’ in saving thousands of bird species from being hunted to extinction.
Beccy Speight, chief executive of the RSPB, said: “I am delighted that we will be able to honour Emily Williamson’s legacy in this way and that we are able to take a moment to reflect on the history of our incredible organisation and the inspirational women who started it all. I hope as well as honouring Emily, this statue inspires a new generation, willing to protect nature and revive our world.”
Emily lived at The Croft from 1882 to 1912. She died in 1936, aged 81.