Charles Bradlaugh in Northampton, England

The statue of Charles Bradlaugh in Abington Square, Northampton.

'"THOROUGH"

CHARLES BRADLAUGH,

BORN SEPT. 26, 1833,

DIED JANY. 30, 1891.

M.P. FOR NORTHAMPTON 1880–1891.

FOUR TIMES ELECTED TO ONE

PARLIAMENT. IN VINDICATION OF

THE RIGHTS OF CONSTITUENCIES,

INDIA, TOO, CHOSE HIM HER

REPRESENTATIVE.
HIS LIFE WAS DEVOTED TO

PROGRESS. LIBERTY. AND JUSTICE.'

Bradlaugh was also a lecturer and pamphleteer who used the pseudonym 'Iconoclast', which is perhaps apt for an atheist MP of the day. He was a friend of the poet James Thomson, and his re-publication (with Annie Besant) of the pro-birth control pamphlet The Fruits of Philosophy led to a prison sentence which was quashed on appeal.

Around the other sides of the plinth are plaques containing the words to 'Bradlaugh for Northampton', which was written by James Wilson and set to music by John Lowry.

'BRADLAUGH FOR NORTHAMPTON.

ELECTORS OF NORTHAMPTON, WORK!

THE DAY WILL SOON BE HERE,

WHEN YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE YOUR VOTES.

AND GIVE THEM WITHOUT FEAR;

FOR FREEDOM'S BATTLE NE'ER WAS WON

BY COWARDS IN THE PAST,

NOR CAN IT EVER BE SUSTAINED

BY MEN WHO FEAR THE BLAST.

THEN TOIL, MEN, TOIL IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE

REST NOT CONTENT WITH VAIN APPLAUSE

HUMANITY NEEDS BETTER LAWS –

TO WIN THESE WE'LL SEND BRADLAUGH!'

''TIS NOT TO TREAD YOUR CHURCHES DOWN,

NOT CHAPELS BUILT BY MEN,

NOR HINDER EARNEST WORSHIPPERS

ON MOUNTAIN OR IN GLEN;

BUT TO GIVE FREEDOM TO EACH THOUGHT

THAT SWELLS THE BRAIN OF MAN,

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR ALL,

NO STATE CHURCH IN OUR PLAN.

'TIS NOT TO ROB RICH LORDS OF LANDS,–

OPPRESS AS THEY WOULD YOU,

NOR PROPERTY MAKE INSECURE,

TO FEED A LAWLESS FEW;

BUT TO MAKE WAY FOR THOSE TO RISE,

WHO HARD BUT HUMBLY TOIL,

AND GIVE TO ALL SOME INTEREST

IN NATURE'S GIFT, THE SOIL.'

'SOME COWARDS CRY OUT "HERESY!"

BEWARE! MY FELLOW MEN,–

THAT CRY'S BEEN RAISED, SO HIST'RY SAYS,

'GAINST BRITAIN'S NOBLEST MEN,

SAY, IS HE MANLY, IS HE TRUE?

IS HE FOR JUSTICE STRONG?

AND WILL HE LABOUR GOOD TO DO?

THEN ECHO IN YOUR SONG ––

WE'LL TOIL, WE'LL TOIL IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE,

NOT REST CONTENT WITH VAIN APPLAUSE,

BUT FIGHT DETERMINED FOR JUST LAWS,

AND MAKE OUR MEMBER, BRADLAUGH!'

ADDENDUM: I recently received this link from the Charles Bradlaugh Society:

 

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Grant made to publish Charles Bradlaugh archives

Becket's Well, Northampton, England

Becket's Well is on Bedford Road, Northampton.

'BECKET'S WELL

THIS STRUCTURE WAS ERECTED IN 1843 OVER A SPRING OUTSIDE THE OLD TOWN WALLS. THIS IS THE SPRING AT WHICH IT IS REPUTED THOMAS À BECKET RESTED AND DRANK AT HIS FLIGHT FROM NORTHAMPTON CASTLE AFTER HIS TRIAL IN 1164 FOR "DEFIANCE OF ROYAL AUTHORITY". BECKET ESCAPED TO FLANDERS BEFORE THE VERDICT WAS BROUGHT IN, BUT RETURNED TO ENGLAND AFTER SIX YEARS. HE WAS MURDERED IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL IN 1170.'

Scenes from Becket's life.

The Double Helix: Francis Crick in Northampton, England

Abington Street, Northampton. The Sir Francis Crick sculpture was a joint venture between the artist Lucy Glendinning and m-tec.

'Francis Crick.

One of the greatest British scientists of the 20th century.

Born in Weston Favell Northampton and educated at Northampton Grammar School, Crick became involved in scientific research at Cambridge university where he unlocked the secret of life[:] the double helix structure of DNA. 

He later moved to California to study the human brain and consciousness in the field of neuroscience at the Salk Institute. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 and the Order of Merit in1991.

                                                                                December 2005'

I find it a little surprising that there's no mention of James D. Watson.

The sculpture is over eight yards high and the figures are life-size.

Thomas Fuller and John Dryden in Northampton and Aldwincle, Northamptonshire

Northampton Public Library in Abington Street, by Herbert Norman in 1910, bears the statue of Northamptonshire son John Dryden.

There is also a statue of Dryden on Northampton's Guildhall, but then there is also a statue of another Northampton son on the facade of Northampton Public Library:

Thomas Fuller (1608–61), like Dryden, was born in the village of Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire. He was the son of the rector of St Peter's, and went on to be the rector of Broadwinsor, Dorset, and an author later admired by Charles Lamb and Coleridge. His writing was noted for its jokes and puns, and Leslie Stephens remarked on his 'fantastic caprices'. He is remembered most for Worthies of England, published the year after his death.

The tower window in St Peter's, Aldwincle, is dedicated to Fuller:

'In memory of Thomas Fuller, D. D. Church historian: he was born and baptized in this parish A. D. 1608. A scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven: Matt xiii: 52.'

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John Dryden, Aldwincle and Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire