‘Honour the Scot who helped the Côte d’azur shine’
A Scottish MP who brought prosperity to the French Riviera should be celebrated, reckons a leading historian, writes David Mclean
Aleading authority on French history has suggested the name of Nice’s world-famous Promenade des Anglais be tweaked to honour the Edinburgh-born statesman who brought generations of prosperity to the Côte d’azur
Dr Laura O’brien, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Northumbria University, argues that Lord Henry Brougham – whose interest in the French Riviera led to the creation of the enclave for the rich and famous in the 1830s – should be better represented with the Promenande des Ecossaise.
Born in 1778 in Edinburgh into relative obscurity, Lord Brougham, a journalist, barrister, MP and peer, would go on to help end the slave trade. As Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, he became instrumental in making the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act a reality.
He is remembered in Edinburgh by two streets, Brougham Street and Brougham Place, and with a small plaque in Melville Square next to the towering Melville Monument built for his contemporary, Sir Henry Dundas.
Today a statue of Lord Brougham stands in the streets in Cannes, where you can also eat in restaurants named after the Scot.
But Dr O’brien said his role as the “inventor” of Cannes and impact on the Cote d’azur as a whole should also be fully honoured.
Dr O’brien added: “If you go to Cannes, Brougham is almost certainly better known than he is in Edinburgh, as the creator of this Mediterranean resort.
“He set the trend for travel to the south of France, long before the railways made it practical for the Parisian elites to go there.
“He was able to encourage people to head there in the winter months from abroad.”
“One of the many interesting things about the Côte d’azur is the Promenade des Anglais, but it should really be named the Promenade des Écossais.”
Lord Brougham’s connection with the Côte D’azur began in 1834 when he travelled to Nice in an effort to rejuvenate his ailing daughter.
His entourage were turned away from the city due to an outbreak of cholera and they retreated to Cannes, then a sleepy coastal village of around 3,000 inhabitants.
Lord Brougham loved it so much he had a villa constructed and would spend his remaining winters there.
He was co-founder of one of the most influential British magazines of all time, the Edinburgh Review. After his education at the Royal High School and University, he moved to London in the early 1800s, where he became an advocate.
While he attracted much attention following his successful defence of Queen Caroline in her divorce from George IV in 1820, Brougham was also a prominent politician and served as an MP on multiple occasions for the Whig party.
At six hours, Lord Brougham holds the record for the longest, non-stop speech in House of Commons history.
Through his high social standing and long list of fashionable acquaintances, the retired chancellor almost single-handedly altered the demographic of the Cote D’azur. Within a matter of years, countless British lords, ladies and aristocrats were sailing to Cannes in the winter months, building their own villas and enjoying the health benefits the fair climate offered.
Lord Brougham, who would spend the rest of his life in Cannes, played a vital role in developing the town’s infrastructure, said Dr O’brien, and he was at least partly responsible for the construction of a canal.
As a result of Brougham’s decision to move to Cannes, and the subsequent flood of well-heeled British tourists, nearby Nice marked the unprecedented Anglo influx by naming a 7km stretch of its coastline the Promenade des Anglais.
But surely it’s time that the Scot who attracted them there was also remembered?