Michael Thomas Bass Statue Derby

Michael Thomas Bass Statue in Derby

The statue of Michael Thomas Bass - 'the best friend Derby ever had' - on Cheapside near Derby Museum and Art Gallery in Derby has an interesting back story.

Bass (1799-1884) was an English brewer and Liberal MP for Derby for 35 years from 1848-1883 until just before his death in 1884. The grandson of the founder, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world during his tenure.

He donated £25,000 of his own money towards the construction of the Derby Free Library and Museum (later Derby Central Library). Though that facility has since moved to a new location in the Council House his statue now stands nearby.

When the figure by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (creator of the Duke of Wellington statue in Hyde Park Corner, London), was unveiled in the Market Place it was the Derby's first statue to a public figure and thousands of people turned up to pay their respects to Bass and see the statue.

During World War II, the statue was nearly sold off for scrap but survived and was relocated to its present location in the mid-1960s.

Read more in this excellent article from Derbyshire Life