Burns Monument, Dumfries. Photographic Views of Dumfries and Neighbourhood, Kings Arms Hotel

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 marble by Italian craftsmen working to Amelia Hill's model.  It was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on 6th April 1882.   This photograph of Burns Monument is from an album presented to the Kings Arms Hotel by local businesses in Dumfries and Maxwelltown.  The businesses placed advertisements in the album.