Statue of Queen Victoria

On Empire Day in 1905, Sir William Grey-Wilson, Governor of the Bahamas, unveiled John Adams-Acton’s statue of Queen Victoria in Rawson Square before large crowds of spectators. The balcony of the government building behind the statue was decorated with flags. The Nassau Guardian reported that the statue, carved “of the finest Carrara marble,” had been inspected by King Edward VII in London before being shipped overseas. Emphasizing Victoria’s status as a symbol of the empire in a manner that elided its racial and social hierarchies, speeches made during the unveiling ceremony underscored the importance of the unity of the British Empire and likened the purity of Victoria’s character with the whiteness of the statue.