Sir Edward Harland Memorial, City Hall, Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 5GS

Sir Edward Harland Memorial

A marble statue commemorating Sir Edward Harland, the shipbuilder and politician, erected in the grounds of Belfast City Hall around 1903. The statue was sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock, one of the country's leading sculptors at that time.

The statue is executed in white Sicilian marble and depicts Harland standing in his frock coat, with his hand resting on a model of a ship's hull. Beside him stands a pedestal bearing architectural plans. The figure is mounted on a tall square plinth of grey granite with a moulded cornice. An inscription is carved on the front face of the plinth.

Harland was born in Scarborough but came to Belfast in 1854 to manage Robert Hickson's shipyard. By 1861 he had purchased the yard and founded the shipbuilding firm Harland and Wolff. The firm's rapid expansion over the following three decades greatly increased Belfast's wealth and prosperity. Harland was knighted in 1885, elected Member of Parliament for North Belfast, and served as Lord Mayor in 1885 and 1886. He died in 1895.

The memorial was financed through public subscription of approximately £1,000 and was unveiled on 23 June 1903 by the Earl of Glasgow, President of the Institute of Naval Architects. Sir Thomas Brock, a London-based sculptor and one of the country's most influential artists of his era, designed the work. Brock was particularly renowned for his many statues of Queen Victoria and became founding president of the Society of British Sculptors in 1905. He also executed the Victoria Monument in the City Hall grounds, unveiled in 1903, and the Titanic Monument, unveiled in 1920.

The Harland Memorial was the first statue to be erected in the City Hall grounds, reflecting the significant impact of Harland and Wolff on Belfast's development. It originally stood to the east of the central statue of Queen Victoria but has since been relocated further eastward. The statue now stands next to the statue of Sir James Haslett, designed in 1906 to 1909 by Frederick Pomeroy to harmonise with Brock's design. The memorial forms part of a group of four similar statues of former Lord Mayors facing Donegall Place, all erected in 1903. These statues, together with other high-quality memorials surrounding the City Hall, contribute to the historical and architectural significance of the grounds.

Cleaning and repair work was carried out to the memorial between 1992 and 1993. The statue stands within a conservation area on the lawned grounds of City Hall, surrounded by buildings of similar date that enhance its historical context.