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King Edward
VII suggested
that
a
joint
Parliamentary
committee
should
be
formed
to
develop
plans
for
a
Memorial
to Queen
Victoria following
her
death.
The
first
meeting
took
place
on
19
February
1901
at
the Foreign
Office, Whitehall.
The
first
secretary
of
the
committee
was Arthur
Bigge,
1st
Baron
Stamfordham.[7] Initially
these
meetings
were
behind
closed
doors,
and
the
proceedings
were
not
revealed
to
the
public.[8] However
the Lord
Mayor
of
London, Sir
Joseph
Dimsdale,
publicly
announced
that
the
committee
had
decided
that
the
Memorial
should
be
"monumental".[9]

The
original
sketch
model
created
by
Thomas
Brock
of
the
finalised
design
of
the
Victoria
Memorial
Reginald
Brett,
2nd
Viscount
Esher,
the
secretary
of
the
committee,
submitted
the
proposal
to
the
King
on
4
March
1901.[10][11] A
number
of
sites
were
suggested,
and
the
King
visited
both Westminster
Abbey and
the
park
near
the Palace
of
Westminster.[11] Several
ideas
were
rumoured
at
this
time,
including
an
open
square
in The
Mall near
to
the
school Duke
of
York
Column,
and
a
memorial
located
in Green
Park.[12]
On
26
March
the
decision
was
announced
to
locate
the
Memorial
outside Buckingham
Palace and
slightly
shorten
The
Mall.
It
was
estimated
that
the
work
would
cost
£250,000
and
decided
that
there
would
be
no
grant
given
by
the
Government
to
the
construction.[13] Once
the
site
was
selected,
a
competition
was
conducted
for
the
design.[14] Five
architects
were
chosen
to
develop
designs.[15] This
phase
lasted
until
the
beginning
of
July
1901,
when
the
committee
selected
its
primary
choice
for
the
construction
and
took
it
to
the
King
for
approval.[14] It
was
announced
on
21
October
1902
that Thomas
Brock had
been
chosen
as
the
designer.
The
expectation
was
that
the
memorial
would
cost
£200,000.[16][17]
Funding
and
constructionEdit
Funding
for
the
memorial
was
gathered
from
around
the British
Empire as
well
as
the
public.
The
Australian House
of
Representatives granted
a
£25,000
contribution
for
the
bconstruction
on
17
October
1905.[18] The
New
Zealand
government
submitted
a
cheque
for
£15,000
towards
the
fund.[19] By
October
1901
some
£154,000
had
been
gathered
for
the
construction
of
the
Memorial.[20] During
1902
a
number
of
tribes
from
the
west
coast
of
Africa
sent
goods
to
be
sold,
with
the
proceeds
going
towards
the
fund. Alfred
Lewis
Jones had
arranged
for
these
items
to
be
brought
from
Africa
to
Liverpool
free
of
charge
on
his
ships.[21]
Following
the
public
and
national
donations
towards
the
funds,
there
was
more
money
collected
than
was
necessary
for
the
construction
of
the
Victoria
Memorial.
Funds
were
therefore
diverted
towards
the
construction
of Admiralty
Arch at
the
other
end
of
The
Mall,
and
a
redevelopment
to
clear
a
path
directly
from
that
road
into Trafalgar
Square.
Sir Aston
Webb was
put
in
charge
of
this
project;
he
built
the
Arch
so
economically
that
enough
money
was
left
over
to
re-front
the
entirety
of Buckingham
Palace,
a
job
that
was
completed
in
13
weeks
due
to
the
pre-fabrication
of
the
new
stonework.[22]
The
initial
preparatory
stage
was
to
re-route
the
road
and
modify
The
Mall.
Brock
hoped
that
work
on
constructing
the
Memorial
itself
could
be
started
at
some
point
in
1905.[17] The
lower
half
of
the
Memorial
was
revealed
to
the
public
on
24
May
1909.
Thousands
of
people
visited
it
on
the
first
day.[23]
Dedication
and
inaugurationEdit

The
memorial's
unveiling
ceremony
Following
a
practice
ceremony
on
11
March,
in
the
presence
of Prince
Arthur,
Duke
of
Connaught
and
Strathearn,[24] the
dedication
ceremony
took
place
on
16
May
1911,
presided
over
by King
George
V.
His
first
cousin, Wilhelm
II
of
Germany,
was
also
present.
These
two
were
the
senior
grandsons
of
Victoria,[25] and
arrived,
together
with
their
families,
in
royal
procession.
Also
in
attendance
were
a
large
number
of
Members
of
Parliament,
and
representatives
of
various
armed
forces.[26]
In
his
role
as Home
Secretary, Winston
Churchill carried
the
text
of
the
speeches.[26] Lord
Esher
addressed
the
King
and
the
gathered
crowd,
explaining
the
history
of
the
Memorial.
