The Robert Burns Memorial Statue is located on the Green, east of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The bronze statue, which stands ten feet six inches tall upon a granite pedestal, was cast by renowned sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson, in 1906.
Heritage Value
The Robert Burns Memorial Statue was erected at Fredericton, the capital, as a provincial monument to Scottish pride and spirit.
The Burns Memorial was not only the first public statue erected in Fredericton but also in the province of New Brunswick. In 1903, Oswald S. Crocket, President of the Fredericton Society of St. Andrew, proposed that the different Scottish Societies join forces to erect a statue to the memory of Robert Burns. Mr. O.S. Crocket was installed as Chairman of the Provincial Burns Memorial Committee, and he engaged the McIntosh-Gullett Granite Company of Toronto to prepare the ten foot six inch-tall pedestal. Celebrated sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson, cast the bronze statue. Stevenson, who designed a great many Burns statues, said that this was the best statue he had ever cast and the finest likeness of the bard. A replica of the Fredericton Burns Statue stands in Chicago, both having been cast from the same mold.
The Robert Burns Memorial Statue was unveiled Thanksgiving Day, October 18, 1906 in a well-attended public ceremony. Lieutenant-Governor D. C. Fraser provided the oration and spoke for fifty-five minutes. The Burns Statue, which was draped in a Union Jack flag, was uncovered by Belle J. Hutchison, daughter of Ernest Hutchison. Ernest Hutchison was a former MLA and Past president of the Highland Society of Miramichi.
Due to defects in the bronze casting and the appearance of unsightly rust three years after it was erected, the Burns Memorial Statue was recast. The new statue was placed in position without ceremony in September 1911.
The Burns Statue had originally been placed on the Green opposite the Provincial Legislature, but plans to build the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in that vicinity necessitated movement of the monument. In the fall of 1956, the Burns Memorial Statue was shifted east of its original location, preparatory for the construction of the gallery.
The statue and base were fully restored and re-unveiled in 2011.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements associated with the Burns Memorial Statue include:
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Bronze cast statue in the likeness of Robert Burns
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of its design and crafting by renowned sculptor, W. Grant Stevenson
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Granite pedestal with steps, whose plinth is ornamented by bronze relief panels, depicting scenes from “Cottar’s Saturday Night,” “Tam O’Shanter,” and “John Anderson My Jo.”