CIRCULAR.
Downing Street,
12th August, 1936.
Sir,
I have the honour to inform you that last March a Meeting was held at the
Mansion House to consider proposals for a National Memorial to His late Majesty
King George the Fifth. It was resolved that the memorial should take the form of
a statue of His late Majesty in London in some noble setting, and a philanthropic
scheme of a specific character which would benefit the whole country and be associated
with His late Majesty's name. It was further resolved that the Lord Mayor of London
should be asked to issue an appeal for a Mansion House Fund to be opened for universal
subscription for the expenses of the memorial and that acknowledgment of subscriptions
received should be published from time to time in “ The Times” and other newspapers.
''
2. It was subsequently recommended that for the purpose of the erection of the
proposed statue a site should be acquired in Abingdon Street and Old Palace Yard
which are in close proximity to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, and
that the proposed statue of His Majesty should be placed on this site immediately facing
the House of Lords in specially designed surroundings. With regard to the philan-
thropic scheme, it was recommended that this should take the form of fields to be
acquired all over the country for recreation purposes, and that at the entrance to each
of these fields there should be a distinctive gateway bearing an inscription to show that
it is one of the King George Memorial Fields, or other appropriate visible commemora-
tion of His late Majesty. These proposals were submitted to His Majesty King
Edward and Her Majesty Queen Mary, who were graciously pleased to signify their
entire approbation of them.
3. The Mansion House Fund has been opened, and I am informed that
subscriptions are being received not only from persons in the United Kingdom but from
persons in many parts of the Empire, from British communities in foreign countries,
and even from foreign countries, such as the United States of America. So far as the
The Officer Administering
the Government of
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