KING EDWARD VII

Cultural Origin of Subject: United Kingdom

The statue of King Edward is the work of artist Philippe Hebert and was erected in Phillips Square in 1914.  Edward VII was king of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions as well as Emperor of India from 1901 to 1910.  His reign was marked by crucial changes in technology and society.  His reign witnessed important mechanical flight innovations, encouraged socialism, saw the rise of the modern labour movement, contributed to the modernization of the British Royal Navy fleet, and reformed army medical services.  He promoted and maintained good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, where he was called a “peacemaker.” At the base of the monument there are four groups of figures symbolizing the following concepts, which through their inclusion are thus symbolically attributed to the leadership of this British monarch:

-         -  Peace, embodied by a group of women holding an olive branch

-          - The Four Nations, which include Montréal’s four founding groups, the French Scots, Irish and English, who are represented in a peaceful co-existence

-          - Prosperity

-          -  Liberty, an angel – who is a reminder that the King ensured peace, respect and dignity to individuals around the world and stated that no distinction of race or color should be made between different people)