Unveiling of Burns Statue, Dumfries

A monochrome photographic print of the unveiling of the statue to Robert Burns before a vast crowd.   In May 1877 the town council of Dumfries adopted a proposal to erect a statue to Robert Burns, the town's most illustrious inhabitant. A site was chosen in Church Place, at the junction of the High Street, Castle Street and Buccleuch Street and the local historian William McDowall was appointed secretary of a committee formed to progress the project.   The committee approved a model for the statue proposed by the artist Amelia Paton Hill. She had exhibited portrait busts, animal figures and genre groups at the Royal Academy, and all these elements are to be found in her statue of Burns, which is probably her best known work.   The statue was carved in Carrara by Italian craftsmen working to Amelia Hill's model. It was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on 6th April 1882. In the century since it has been moved on several occasions due to road improvements in the vicinity.