This statue was a gift by one of Hull's well-to-do's in the 1860's and is reputed to be in marble from the same quarry in Italy where Michelangelo sourced the raw materials for his David which now stands, albeit with weak ankles, in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence.
Back to Victoria though.
If a contemporary study then the Hull statue will have been of her before her 40th year and sadly only a year or so until the untimely death of her Consort, Albert.
Hers was a momentous reign in terms of the extent of British Empire and global influence but an inevitable consequence would be the making of enemies of the State both, as they say, Commonwealth and Domestic.
It is a little known fact that during Victoria's monarchy there were at least seven assassination attempts or assaults on her life, with or without Albert by her side.
The first was in 1840 when an 18 year old called Edward Oxford fired upon the Queen and Prince as they were leaving Buckingham Palace by carriage to visit the Duchess of Kent. Two shots were heard and Oxford was apprehended by the police and tried under the charge of High Treason. In a not guilty plea the attacker relied upon the defence that, as no actual lead shot was ever found and the sound of shots was merely the gunpowder charge going off, it was not a murder attempt. Oxford was found guilty although of unsound mind and detained at Her Majesty's pleasure.
A strange assassination attempt took place in May 1842. Albert, out in the carriage with Victoria was convinced that he had heard a gunshot but it was not immediately corroborated by any witnesses and attributed to fireworks going off. However it later transpired that a man had been seen to be walking away suspiciously at the time. The Royals showed great courage in retracing their journey the very next day and the gunman, John Francis made his second attempt only to be overpowered by a policeman who forced the gun to go off without injury. Francis was sentenced to death but this was later, at the mercy of the Queen, commuted to transportation to the Colonies.
There will have been security fears of a copycat attack and indeed only two months later a humpbacked figure in a long brown coat emerged out of a crowd as the Royal Carriage passed by and pulled out a pistol. A 16 year old bystander saw this unfolding and seized the perpetrator, William Bean by the wrists and attracted the attention of two on duty police officers. They laughed at his claims, perhaps on the basis of the ridiculous appearance of a boy and a hunchback and did not make any further enquiries. The brave citizen took it upon himself to disarm Bean and was later himself discovered with the offending weapon in Green Park close to Buckingham Palace. It was then that witnesses came forward to support the frustrated lad in his supposedly tall tale. The slackness of the original policemen saw them reprimanded and suspended and Bean was traced and arrested. He gave the reason for his behaviour as a general malaise with his life. He got an 18 months jail sentence.
In 1849 William Hamilton fired at the Royal Carriage as it made its way back to the Palace with just the Queen on board. He claimed it was a mischief rather than anything serious but it cost him a seven year transportation sentence.
The gun incidents will have been premeditated but in 1850 a smartly dressed gentleman, Robert Pate, saw Victoria and three of her children in central London after they had been to an event in Piccadilly. He simply walked up and with a lightweight cane wacked the Queen about the head, He was found guilty but of unsound mind and also found himself exiled for 7 years.
In 1872 a 17 year old boy, Arthur O'Connor ran into the Palace Gardens and accosted Victoria holding a pistol close to her head. The gun was not loaded but it was a stunt by O'Connor to force Victoria to sign a document related to the Irish situation. The Queen is reported to have shown great courage in the face of this adversity. The attacker received 20 strokes with the birch rod and a 12 month prison sentence.
It was another ten years before the final documented gun attack. Roderick McLean lay in wait for Victoria in Windsor Station Yard as she was arriving from Paddington Station to stay at Windsor Castle. He fired off a shot but was quickly seized and detained.
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