FAIRBAIRN, Sir William (1789-1874). Engineer.
Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Fairbairn') to an unnamed correspondent ('Sir'), 1 page 8vo, Manchester, 28 September 1865. Promising to show the statuette to Mr Peel and to his friends, 'as soon as I have it properly mounted'.

'... I will also take care to exhibit the work to all my friends and I have every reason to believe it will recommend attention to the Artist.'

It is not clear as to what work Fairbairn is here referring, as he appears to be talking of an active artist, and indeed the letter is probably addressed to the same. A marble bust had been executed by Patric Park (1811-1855), one of a group of six commissioned by the Board of Trade, shortly before the artist's death, for the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and now in the possession of the Royal Society. This would have been about ten years before the date of the present letter. A later marble statue by E.E. Geflowski, 1878, is in the Town Hall, Manchester. See 'William Fairbairn, The Experimental Engineer', by Richard Byrom, Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2017, p.162 and n.

The reference to Peel could perhaps be to Robert Peel, third baronet, son of the prime minister, who was at this time MP for Tamworth.
[No: 1117]