Death and Memorial
Sturge died at Edgbaston, Birmingham. A memorial to him was unveiled three years later before a crowd of 12,000 on 4 June 1862 at Five Ways. 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. Thomas had also worked on the Palace of Westminster and Balmoral, as well as the reliefs on Windsor and Euston Stations.
Sturge is posed as if he were teaching, with his right hand resting on the Bible to indicate his strong Christian faith. 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", as well as Sturge's name and his date of death.
In 1925 a plaque was installed at the memorial to tell passers-by more about its subject. The inscription reads:
In 2006-07 the partnership of the Birmingham Civic Society, Birmingham City Council, and the Sturge family restored the statue for the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The statue is grade II listed.
On 24 March 2007, the city held a civic ceremony to formally rededicate the statue. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham unveiled an interpretation board giving details of Sturge's life. On the same day, a blue plaque (historic marker) was unveiled at the site of his home in Wheeleys Road, Edgbaston.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Sturge
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