George IV.—­The first bronze statue ever cast in Birmingham was that of George IV., the work of Sir Edward Thomason, in 1823.  Sir Edward employed the best of talent and spared no pains to turn out a splendid work of art, but he never found a customer for it.  The statue is 6ft. high, weighing 2-1/2 tons, and costing over L1,500, but was sold in November, 1880, to a gentleman in the neighborhood for L150, little more than the value of the metal. Goldsmith.—­The statue of Goldsmith, in the hall of the Reference Library, is a plaster cast of the bronze statue manufactured by Messrs. Elkington for the City of Dublin. Hill.—­The sum of L1,500 was raised by public subscription, for the purpose of erecting a statue of Sir Rowland Hill.  The work was executed in marble by Mr. P. Hollins, and pending the erection of the new Post Office buildings, the charge of the statue was accepted by the Exchange Buildings Committee, September 12, 1870 and remained in the Birmingham Exchange until the year 1874, when it was removed to the position in which it at present stands, in the corner of the principal room of the Post Office, Paradise Street.

Hill, M.D.—­A very fine bust of Matthew Davenport Hill, the first Recorder for the borough, is placed in the Art Gallery at the Reference Library.

James.—­A bust of the Rev. Angell James may be seen at Aston Hall.

King Edward VI.—­When the old Grammar School was taken down the statue of the King, which had stood in its niche in the front of the old building for generations, was broken to pieces on account of so many gentlemen (including governors) wanting it; as all could not have it, it was destroyed!

Mason.—­The erection of a statue in his honour as proposed in 1870 not meeting with the approval of Sir Josiah Mason (then Mr.), the Town Council paid Mr. E.G.  Papworth, the chosen sculptor, a solatium or honorarium of 150 guineas.  The worthy knight not being now alive to veto the project, a figure of him has been placed opposite the College in Edmund Street.

Murdoch.—­There is a bust of William Murdoch, the introducer of coal-gas as an illuminant, in Handsworth Church.  Another would not be out of place in the new Gas Office.

Nelson—­The bronze statue of Lord Nelson in the Bull Ring was executed by Westmacott, and uncovered June 6, 1809.  The artist received L2,500, but the total cost (raised by subscription) with the pedestal, lamps, and palisading, was nearly L3,000.  The corner posts are old cannon from the Admiral’s ship the Victory.

Peel.—­The statue of Sir Robert Peel, near the Town Hall, cost L2,000, and was unveiled August 27, 1855.  He faced towards Christ Church at first, and was protected from Tories and Protectionists by iron railings, until March, 1878, when his bonds were loosed, and he was allowed to look down New Street.

Priestley.—­The statue of the discoverer of oxygen, near the Town Hall, was uncovered August 1, 1884.  The amount subscribed as a Priestley memorial fund was L1,820, of which L972 went for the philosopher’s stone effigy, about L10 for a tablet on the site of his house at Fair Hill, and L653 to the Midland Institute to found a scholarship in chemistry.