The Boer War memorial stands at the front of the Swan Hotel and is dedicated as follows:
“To the memory of the Officers and men of the Bedfordshire Regiments and of the Bedfordshire men serving in other branches of the Imperial Forces who lost their lives in the South African Campaign and whose names are hereon recorded. The monument was erected by public subscription in the county.
"War declared October 8th 1899 - Peace proclaimed June 1st 1902”
Further pictures and information can be found at the following site:
www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/BedfordBoerWarMemorial.html
The memorial was unveiled by Lady Cowper, standing in for her husband the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, on 2nd June 1904. The sculptor, Leon J Chavalliaud (1859-1919), was born in Rheims and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris before coming to England in the 1890s and working for the British firm of decorative casting, Farmer and Brindley, over a 15 year period.
Picture of memorial courtesy of Stuart Antrobus © 2014
Unused postcard - Blake & Edgar Publishers, Bedford (Ref: PC_Bedford_0029)