Remembering the Father of Reform: John Cartwright

Administrator

Major Cartwright’s obelisk … and other fine tombs in Finchley Churchyard
Dr. Roger Bowdler
St. Mary-at-Finchley Church
8 pm Thursday 25 October

 

John Cartwright (1740-1824) was an early advocate of American independence, universal (male) suffrage, the abolition of slavery and many other causes. American President Thomas Jefferson expressed his “high veneration and esteem for your person and character”, and looked forward to meeting him in the world to come. When he died, the English radical movement mourned his loss and raised two memorials. One is the statue in Cartwright Gardens in Bloomsbury. The other was an obelisk in Finchley Churchyard. The October talk was part of a campaign to re-erect the obelisk and bring it back to a condition worthy of this intriguing figure.

The talk by Roger Bowdler looked at the man and his monuments (as well as some of the other memorials in Finchley churchyard). Dr Bowdler worked for 28 years for English Heritage / Historic England and is an expert in funerary art and design. This meeting was held in the church of St. Mary-at-Finchley in Hendon Lane N3 on Thursday 25 October at 8 pm.