MARK OF JOHN EDWARD TERREY, LONDON, 1831

Details

A William IV silver candelabrum centrepiece
Mark of John Edward Terrey, London, 1831
The shaped triangular plinth on shaped circular base raised on three shell, scroll, floral and foliate bracket feet, the base cast and chased with oak-leaves and acorns, the plinth chased with acanthus borders and applied with fasces, the cylindrical stem cast and chased with acanthus and willow, flanked by three cast female figures representing Justice, Virtue and Truth, the latter bearing a scroll inscribed 'Reform Bill', the stem with acanthus borders rising to a shaped circular centrepiece bowl with outcurved acanthus rim and chased with roses, shamrocks and thistles, with cut-glass liner, the six detachable floral and foliate scroll branches below each with detachable sockets and drip-pans formed as sunflowers, the plinth engraved with two coats-of-arms and with a presentation inscription, marked on base, bowl, figures, branches, sockets and drip-pans
27in. (69cm.) high without glass bowl
409oz. (12,742gr.)
The arms are those of the City of Reading and Monck impaling Stephens, for John Berkeley Monck (d.1834) and his wife Mary, daughter of William Stephens Esq., of Aldermaston, co. Buckingham, whom he married in 1810. John Monck was a barrister and M.P. for Reading. His family originated from Devon and share a common ancestry with the celebrated Royalist the Duke of Albemarle (d.1670).
The inscription on the plinth reads, 'PRESENTED TO JOHN BERKELEY MONCK ESQR ANNO DOMINI 1831, BY HIS TOWNSMEN AND NEIGHBOURS in token of their deep and lasting gratitude, for the talent, the zeal, and the constancy, by which throughout a laborious Parliamentary Course HE SUSTAINED THE CAUSE OF UNIVERSAL FREEDOM IN ITS SEASON OF GREATEST NEED: For the power by which in the sphere of his local influence, He has done justice, advocated truth, and kept alive the spirit of public virtue: AND FOR THE PURE AND NOBLE EXAMPLE which his life as a politician and a man affords TO THEM AND TO THEIR CHILDREN.'

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Lot Essay

In November, 1830, Earl Grey, a Whig, became Prime Minister and began to introduce proposals to reduce the rotten boroughs and give industrial towns such as Manchester and Birmingham representation in the House of Commons. The Tories, who had been the dominant force in the Commons for sixty years, were strongly opposed to increasing the franchise. In April 1831 Grey asked William IV to dissolve Parliament so the Whigs could secure a larger majority in the Commons to carry their proposals for parliamentary reform. William agreed and after making his speech in the House of Lords, walked back to Buckingham Palace through cheering crowds.

On 22nd September 1831, the House of Commons passed the Reform Bill to jubilation from the public. However the bill was defeated in the Tory-dominated House of Lords, upon which Reform Riots took place in several British towns. Grey tried to persuade the king to increase the number of Whig peers in order to pass the re-introduced bill, but the king refused. The government resigned and William IV asked the leader of the Tories, the Duke of Wellington, to form a new government. Wellington tried to do this but some Tories were unwilling to oppose the majority of the people in Britain, arguing of the danger of a civil war.

William, who had now lost his popularity, asked Grey to return to office, which he did, asking the king again to create new Whig peers. This time the king agreed, and the Lords passed the 1832 Reform Act. Despite the controversy this bill was not as comprehensive as many would have liked and there were still strict property qualifications: voting in the boroughs was restricted to men with homes with an annual value of £10 and only one in seven adult males had the vote.

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