Today he looks serenely over proceedings facing the town's iconic clock tower, where he was relocated in 1994 to avoid the heavy volume of traffic further down Moor Street. Cars, trucks and buses must be much less peaceful than the horse drawn carts plodding gently past on the cobbled streets which would have been the order of the day in the early years of his tenure. Crowds cheered on 9th September 1884 as the Earl of Lathom unveiled the statue of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, a popular former Prime Minister, who had died just a few years previously in April 1881. The statue, sculptured by Mr. G.H. Margetson of Chelsea, depicts Disraeli attired in his earl's robes and wearing the insignia of a Knight of the Garter.
Disraeli stands on an 11 feet tall base and his 9 feet tall statue is a commanding sight in the town to this day, despite several efforts to move him from the town centre. His coat of arms carved on the front panel of the plinth has disappeared, he remained at this junction, of St Helens Road and Moor Street, until 1994 when the Council had the statue taken to a stonemason's yard in Crosby to be renovated. On his return the old Earl was sited in front of the Golden Lion, he continues to watch over the town. The local contractor who managed the great task of putting the statue in place in 1884 with horses, carts, ropes, pullies and strong arms was James Whittle, Builder, of Moorside, Moor Street, the large detached house shown to the left of the statue here, just beyond the old Working Men's Institute. The cobbles look pretty tough on this photo too, they are probably still there.
