|
This site celebrates the life and work of sculptor John
Cassidy (1860 - 1939).
This page is for news, comments from readers and other
odds and ends that don't need their own page.

Bust of Sir Charles Hallé, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
|
News and comment: updated 16 December 2009
'Adrift' plaque installed

The plaque above was fitted to the plinth of 'Adrift' in St Peters
Square, Manchester on 30 November 2009. The picture was taken in bad
weather and suffers from wide-angle lens distortion: a better picture
will hopefully appear here soon. (Had we been given opportunity to look
at the proposed text, we might have pointed out that Gresham's
qualifications would have been better expressed as 'M.I.C.E, J.P.', or
'M.Inst.C.E., J.P.' as he was a member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers.)
Damage to Cassidy statues
Public sculptures are prone to accidental and deliberate damage, and
recent months have seen two incidences of this to Cassidy works in
Greater Manchester.
Two more of the four portrait plaques have been stolen from the Lancashire Dialect Writers Memorial
in Rochdale: one has been missing for some years. Local sculptor Tony
Smart is planning to create replacement plaques, using pictures of the
lost ones supplied by ourselves.
We also note that the top part of the Manchester
Jubilee
Fountain has been removed for repair, following damage by
'late-night revellers.' Let us hope it is back in place soon.
'The Glorious Dead'
The Glorious Dead, a
new, and very exhaustive book on the figurative sculptures on British
war memorials, written by Geoff Archer,
was
published in November 2009 by Frontier
Publishing of Norfolk. Mr Archer is himself an artist as well as a
historian: his website
gives examples of his paintings. The book has developed from an
interest in his local memorial, leading to travel over the UK visiting
others.
Cassidy's large memorials are listed and illustrated, as well as those
of many other sculptors of the time who created figures for memorials,
mostly in the 1920s. The book has 416 pages, and 260 black-and-white
pictures, nearly all taken by the author himself. The book costs
£30.
Two pictures from the family archive

Here are two pictures kindly sent to us by Doug Cassidy, grandson of John
Cassidy's brother Michael Cassidy who lived in New York City after
leaving Ireland. On the back of this one - "The old home." Just
beneath it gives the date as August 1920. We believe this shows
the farmhouse (no longer in existence) in Littlewood, Slane which was
the birthplace of John Cassidy and most of his brothers and sisters.

Doug writes: 'I think it was my grandfather's and on back it says "John
Cassidy, the sculptor, 1863-1939 - as a young man. Lived in
Manchester, England. Born in Slane, County Meath. Brother
of Michael Cassidy." I have also learned from family documents that the
father and mother of Patrick Cassidy (John's father) were Thomas
Cassidy and Jane Keelan. Thomas Cassidy's father was Patrick Cassidy.
The father and mother of John's mother Jane McGorisk Cassidy were
George McGorisk and Jane McDonald.'
A 70th anniversary tribute
Notes and pictures by Charlie Hulme

Aware that the 70th anniversary of Cassidy's death was approaching, on
15 July I made a visit the man's grave, in Manchester Southern
Cemetery, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, three miles south of the City Centre. The
picture shows the main entrance on Barlow Moor Road.

Opened in 1879, the burial grounds and associated chapels cover a wide
area - 168 acres (68 Hectares) according to one source - divided into
sections according to religion: Cassidy lies in the Roman Catholic
section (see out Last Days feature for
details) where understandably there is a preponderance of Irish
surnames, with some Polish ones, especially from more recent years. The
upkeep of the place is a credit to Manchester City Council: it is a
pleasure to walk through its wooded glades. Cassidy's simple headstone
is shown above. Unfortunately, in recently years the authorities have
ordered some of the stones to be laid down on the ground in case they
fall on someone, but John's stone has happily not suffered in this way.

A walk to one of the flower shops in the nearby streets produced some
flowers to brighten up the scene for the anniversary, and also
something extra to hold them, as the cast-iron urn on the right is
sadly rusted through. When I visited at 3pm, the sun was shining full
on the stone.

A crcular area in the centre of the Cemetery has the memorials of some
of the more 'notable' occupants: the impressive celtic cross
above is for Sir John W. Alcock, pioneer transatlantic flyer and
subject of a Cassidy memorial in the Town Hall - see our feature Down in Albert
Square.
Fountain conservation completed
Manchester City council are doing a fine job conserving Cassidy's work
in the City centre. Following the restoration of King Edward (below)
and the re-appearance of 'Adrift' (see special page)
work
began
in
April 2009 on the Jubilee Fountain in Albert Square:

... and here it is completed in May 2009. (The aircraft is part of a
Royal Air Force recruiting event.) Our
special thanks are due to Mr Strittmatter, Programme Manager for Public
Arts and War Memorials, for his enthusiastic support for John Cassidy's
work.
'Adrift' in the news
We are no the only ones who have been photographing 'Adrift' - here are
some fine
views
on
Flickr by Joseph McCarraghy.
An item about the revival of the work appeared
in
the
Manchester
Evening News on 2 April, thanks to Tony
Frankland, a volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry, who
has been 'quietly campaigning' for 'Adrift' to be re-instated and wrote
to the M.E.N's postbag in February. Note, however, that the
unveiling of the plaque on the sculpture will not take place in April
as suggested by the article: it will be a little later this year.
Neither are we aware of the 'John Cassidy Appreciation Society'
mentioned in the item. If anyone knows of such a body, please let us
know.
Another, very interesting and accurate, article (by Jonathan Schofield)
can be found on the Property
Confidential
website. Quote:
Is it any good do you think?
Yes, it shows Cassidy was a competent sculptor who could handle
emotion. He’s not a Rodin (his contemporary) but he can still sculpt
powerfully. The mother and baby are handled very well, the body and
features of the mother tight with devotion, misery and worry for her
child, despite her own tenuous hold on life. I’m not sure that the new
siting is any good at all, the work is surrounded by street furniture
and too close to the road and the buses. It could do with more room to
breathe but then it is occupying the site of another sculpture. Perhaps
it should be facing the Midland as well, rather than the 84 from
Chorlton and the trams to Altrincham.
Well, yes, it does rather look as though the father is trying to flag
down a passing bus...
Spruce-up for King Edward

|
This picture, taken by
John Lynch on 27 February 2008, shows Cassidy's King Edward VII in Whitworth
Park, Manchester shrouded in scaffolding and plastic
sheets.
Planned conservation work includes cleaning, repatination, and, we are
very pleased to hear, replacement of the King's lost sceptre and the
cross from his orb. Expected date of completion is the end of April
2008.
Our King Edward
VII page has been updated with new pictures, quotes and background
information.
|
Cassidy and Hallé 150

The exhibition commemorating 150 years of the Hallé Orchestra,
in the Local Studies Library of Manchester Central Library, St Peters
Square in 2008 included, as well as various
Hallé memorabilia and displays on the history of the orchestra,
the small bronze by (approx. 70cm high) statue of the founder, Sir
Joseph Hallé, which is normally kept in the Principal's Office
of the Royal Northern College of Music.
This was, according to the caption, presented to the College of Music
by Mrs Walter Beer. (Walter Beer (1874-1915) was an engineer with
the firm of Maxwell and Tuke of Manchester.)
There is a bust of Hallé, also by Cassidy, on permanent display
in the foyer of the nearby Bridgwater concert hall, the home of the
Hallé Orchestra.
|