Typed letter signed, to Colonel George Wigg, declining to add his name to a motion for a memorial to Richard Burdon Haldane.

CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Published by 28, Hyde Park Gate, 21 June 1956

About this Item

Churchill writes declining to support a proposal to erect a statue to a fellow statesman. The recipient, George Wigg (1900-1983), was a former colonel, then a Labour MP, and later Paymaster General. He wrote to Churchill on 18 June noting that he had placed a motion on the Order Paper for a government-funded statue marking the centenary of the birth of the Liberal statesman Richard Burdon Haldane (1856-1928), who as Secretary of State for War (1905-12) played a major role in reforming the British Army before the First World War. Churchill had clashed with Haldane while serving as President of the Board of Trade, when he sought reductions in military spending. Churchill writes, "I had and have a high opinion of Haldane, but even so I do not feel that I could add my name to your Motion. There are, I think, far too many statues in London - not all of them very good - and the trend has been to add to them increasingly in recent years". He nonetheless adds, "This does not mean of course that I oppose your suggestion in any way, but I do not think that I can actively support it. Pray nevertheless accept my thanks for thinking of me in this connection". Asquith had once proposed that Haldane deserved a statue in gold for preparing the nation for war (Campbell, p. 191). No statue was ever erected - Haldane is commemorated only by a blue plaque on his home. Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections. John Campbell, Haldane: The Forgotten Statesman Who Shaped Britain and Canada, 2020. The letter is published in George Wigg, George Wigg, 1972, p. 53. Single sheet of Hyde Park Gate letterhead (241 x 191 mm), typed one side. Hole punch at head, lightly toned, creasing and nick at outer edge: in good condition.

Seller Inventory # 189980

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Typed letter signed, to Colonel George Wigg, declining to add his name to a motion for a memorial to Richard Burdon Haldane.
• Publisher: 28, Hyde Park Gate, 21 June 1956
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)