Recently, I took an enjoyable research trip to Lancaster. Primarly to visit the university archives, but also to retrace some key locations from Richard Owen's life. On July 20th, 1804, Owen was born in Thurnum Street, Lancaster near what is now Dalton Square. Strangely, of the row of Georgian houses, Owen’s appears to be the only one which has been demolished, leaving in it’s wake a small planted garden and an information board commissioned by the Lancaster City Museums.
Thurnum street & a photograph of Owen from my personal collection.
The house was likely small, judging by the size of it’s sibling buildings.Why it was subsequently demolished and the rest of the houses on the street left intact, I don't know. Perhaps it was damaged beyond repair at one point.
Owen’s mother, Catherine, his brother and four sisters would have all been sharing the space. His father, also Richard Owen, died when his son was 4 leaving the family with little money, his mother took up work as an organist and struggled to pay the fees to send both of her sons to the local ‘Free School’.
An illustration of the house before its demolition.
This was also demolished and its successor, the Lancaster Royal Grammar School has a plaque commemorating Owen’s attendance. Although he was not well regarded by his schoolmaster, who considered him “Lazy & impudent” and unlikely to show any improvement.
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The current Lancaster Royal Grammar school & it's plaque to Owen.
Opposite the residential street in which Owen's childhood home sat is Lancaster Town Hall, opening onto Dalton square. In 1906 a monument to Queen Victoria's reign was placed in the centre of the square. Each side featuring various key figures from the 19th century sculpted in groups. As you approach the section commemorating science you can see Owen peering out from behind Thomas Macauley's shoulder, standing next to his rival, Charles Darwin.
The Dalton Square memorial.
Richard Owen's sculpture, next to various contemporaries.
It makes perfect sense for Lancaster to celebrate one of their most famous inhabitants. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see quite how many commemorative snippets are littered around the city. It also helps to put yourself in the metaphorical shoes of a historical figure you study, even if the landscape of the city has changed since the 1800s. I still now know roughly how long it would have taken Owen to walk from his house to school (about 15 minutes up a steep hill). I find that helps to remove some of the disconnect present when researching someone who lived so long ago, the gap feels smaller when you're literally walking in their footsteps.
I would like to write something more in depth about my visit to Lancaster, but haven't the time at the moment so hopefully this tides me over until I get the opportunity to write something more substantial.
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Bibliography:
Owen, R. (1894) The Life of Richard Owen. London: John Murray
Hi! Interesting! Good likeness of him on the pedestal.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is, isn't it. My bus back to the accomodation I was staying at drove past the memorial every day and it was still fairly easy to pick out his likeness from afar.
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