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Royal Scots Greys Statue
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This statue is
beside Princes Street in West Princes Street Gardens, opposite the junction with
Frederick Street.
It commemorates the
Royal Scots Greys who left Edinburgh in 1899 to fight in the South African War.
It was unveiled by Lord Rosebery on 16 November 1906
©
Several people
have contacted me telling me that their ancestors were models for this statue.
See below - in particular, 'Comment 5' below.
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Comment 1.
Models for the Statue
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Thank you to Claire Connelly for sending me an email in November 2004,
telling me:
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Anthony James Hinnigan and Polly
"My great grandfather and his horse were the models for this statue.
His name was Anthony James Hinnigan.
I can't remember the name of his horse; was it Polly?"
Claire Connelly: November 2004 |
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Comment 2.
Models for the Statue
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Thank you to Liam Harkin, Jedburgh, Scotland
for an email in January 2005 giving the following additional information
about the models for the statue:
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Anthony James Hinnigan and Polly
"I can confirm that Sergeant-Major Anthony James
Hinnigan and his horse Polly were the models for the Scots Greys Memorial,
sculpted by Mr Birnie Rhind in 1906.
Anthony James Hinnigan was born in Jedburgh in 1866
and in 1882, at the age of 16, he joined the Royal Scots Greys. For the next 17
years he served with the Greys on home duty but in September 1899, by now with
the rank of Sergeant-Major, he went with the Greys to South Africa when they
were mobilized for service in the Second Boer War.
On his return from South Africa in 1904
Sergeant-Major Hinnigan and his horse Polly were selected as the models for
Rhind's Memorial.
Sergeant-Major Hinnigan was discharged from the army
in 1911 and became mine host at the Railway Inn at Irvine in Ayrshire."
Liam Harkin,
Jedburgh: January 10, 2005 |
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Comment 3.
Model for the Statue
©
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Thank you to Richard Minto,
Solihull, for contacting me concerning the dates above.
If I discover anything
further, I'll update this page again. Meanwhile, here is Richard's
message to me.
Richard wrote:
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Anthony James Hinnigan
"My wife is a
great niece of Anthony Hinnigan. She tells him that the date of
birth of Anthony Hinnigan and other dates mentioned above
are not correct. Anthony Hinnigan was actually born on May 24, 1872."
Richard Minto,
Solihull, West Midlands, England: October 3, 2006. |
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Comment 4.
Model for the Statue
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Thank you to Paul Vile, London
who wrote:
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George Stephen 'Doddy' Vile
"I believe there may have been more than one
model for this statue. I was brought up in the belief that my Great-grandfather, George Stephen 'Doddy' Vile, was also a model for this statue.
He was a drum major and retired from the Regiment
just before the first world war, only to rejoin when the war broke out."
Paul Vile, London:
May 14, 2008 |
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Comment 5.
Model for the Statue
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There appears to be more
controversy than I had expected over who was the model for this statue:
I've now received two emails from
Nicholas Alexander, Melbourne, Australia.
Nicolas wrote:
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Robert McIntosh Alexander
"It was my Grandfather, Robert McIntosh
Alexander, Royal Scots Greys Regiment, who was the model for this statue.
This has been well proven.
You can find out the correct history of the model of
the statue by checking with Edinburgh Castle records. I thought this was
resolved over 20 years ago.
I have the original coloured in black and
white photographs used by the sculptor, which is not my grandfather's Army
Horse, but a special horse for standing for long periods very still.
I have the paperwork and correspondence from
the sculptor to my grandfather discussing his saddler blanket and other
chattels which my grandfather had left at Bernie Rhind's rooms.
My auntie (the model's daughter, now deceased)
took this paperwork to the Castle many years ago to stop the people who
claim (without offering proof) their heritage."
Nicolas Alexander,
Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: June 3, 2008 |
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The Sculptor
Matt Jarrett sent me an email today, telling
me that he was interested to read Nicholas Alexander's comments above.
Matt Jarrett is the great, great
grandson of the sculptor, Bernie Rhind
Peter Stubbs:
July 11, 2008 |
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Comment 6.
Model for the Statue
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The story becomes more
complicated! Despite Nicolas Alexander's claim to have the original
paperwork and correspondence from the sculptor to back up his claim that
his grandfather was the model for the statue ( 5 above),
I'm still receiving more emails on this topic.
Kevin Dodd, London, wrote: |
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The Model
"I was very interested to read the comments from
Nicolas Alexander, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (5 above). I was
very surprised to see that there were several 'claimants' to the story of who
was the model for this statue.
I have my own claim which comes to me from my
Grandmother who was married to Frank Dodd jnr. who was the
colonel of the home regiment for the Scots Greys. Frank's father, also Frank
Dodd was my great grandfather. (His name can be found on the memorial as
well.)
The story that I have is that it was in fact my
great grandfather who modelled the statue, BUT in body only, he was a young well
built man. They did however use the head of an older, more mature looking
soldier. That's the story I have grown up with, my whole life. Is
this incorrect/
I'm told that my great grandfather was also
used to model cigarettes by the army, so I had no reason to believe
otherwise.
If this is true, being that 90% of the statue
is made up of my great grandfathers body and only 10% made up of someone
else's head then my great grandfather should get the credit for being the
model."
Kevin Dodd, London: September 5, 2008
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Conflicting Stories
I'll not complicate matters by
suggesting who might be right or wrong on this topic.
I'll just quote the comments
that I've received in emails about the statue and leave others to draw
their own conclusions.
Peter Stubbs:
September 5, 2008 |
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Comment 7.
Model for the Statue
©
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Here is another query.
Fiona Sleightholm wrote: |
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The Model
"I'm looking for some information on the Royal Scots
Grey statue. Do you know who the soldier who posed for the sculpture?
As a child my Gran would tell me it was her Uncle
Anthony Hinnigan, her Father's brother. I found some info in a small booklet
'Further Recollections, Life in the village of Newstead at the turn of the
Century' by Willie Alchin.
He mentions in the book that the rider on the statue
is a Jedburgh-born man named Anthony Hinnigan."
Fiona Sleightholm, Hest Bank, Lancashire, England: March 19+20, 2009
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I don't have a definite answer
to Fiona's question, but will leave her to read the comments on this page
and reach her own conclusions.
Peter Stubbs:
March 19, 2009 |
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Comment 8.
Model for the Statue
©
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Thank you to Fiona Sleightholm
who wrote again telling me about the progress she had made in trying to
discover more about who the soldier was who posed for the Royal Scots
Greys statue.
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Fiona wrote:
Relatives
"I emailed you a while ago about the Royal Greys
statue on Princess Street, asking you if you knew who the soldier was who posed
for the sculptor. My Gran said it was her Uncle Anthony James Hinnigan.
You gave me some e-mail addresses of people that
said it was their relative too. I contacted them.
It's been great finding third cousins etc.
From trying to find out who the soldier was, I've found relatives I didn't know.
That has been wonderful, especially as I was brought up as an only child and so
was my Mum"
Fiona Sleightholm, Hest Bank, Lancashire, England:
October 17, 2009
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