Pine Coffin Bust In Public Garden Adjoining South East Abutment Of Bideford Bridge

BIDEFORD

SS4526 TORRINGTON STREET, East-The-Water 842-1/7/265 (West side (off)) Pine-Coffin bust in public garden adjoining SE abutment of Bideford Bridge

GV II

Bust of John Richard Pine-Coffin. 1893. By FJ Williamson of Esher, Surrey. White Sicilian marble on a pedestal of Cornish granite with a white marble cornice; 2-tier plinth, the upper tier of granite, the lower tier apparently of concrete. The subject is shown dressed in what looks like a Roman toga, his mustachioed head turned slightly to the left. On the front of the pedestal in lead letters is the inscription: JOHN RICHARD PINE-COFFIN ESQRE, J.P., D.L., A.C.C., OF PORTLEDGE, BIDEFORD, BORN 1842. DIED 1890. ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION, AS A TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM AND AFFECTION. 1893. The bust has the worn signature: -WILLIAMSON, -HER, SURREY. J R Pine-Coffin (d 16.3.1890) belonged to a long-established local gentry family. On his death, aged 48, the North Devon Journal described him as 'an active politiciam and an energetic public servant' and 'nearly every shop in Bideford had either shutters up or blinds drawn' for his funeral. He was Deputy Lieutenant of the County, JP, County Alderman and Vice-Chairman of Bideford Board of Guardians; also for several years President of Bideford Conservative Association. (North Devon Journal: 20.3.1890; 10.4.1890; Bideford Weekly Gazette: 18.9.1894, P5; Who Was Who, 1916-1928: P.1131).

Listing NGR: SS4565226384