Edward Onslow Ford - Rowland Hill

Rowland Hill is well known for his work in campaigning for a proposed system of a postal rates that were low and fair as well as prepaid postage stamps with the latter being shunned by the Parliament. His work is well recognised that one of his statue stands at King Edward Street.

The statue created by Edward Onslow Ford was made in 1884 (and 1881). The statue itself is made of bronze and the base of Peterhead granite. It features Hill facing the East dressed in contemporary garments as he holds a pen and pocketbook. On the side of the step that Hill stands on, it features the founders H Young & Co as well as on the other side, Ford’s signature.

It is also one of the “Talking Statues”, a series of statues that speak once tapped with compatible technology. The spoken words were written by Colette Hiller and the words animated by Alan Johnson. You can head down and tap using NFC technology, scan the QR code or type the URL into the phone web browser. You can receive your call from Rowland Hill by typing speak2.co/hill in the web browser of your phone.

"I think it’s a tremendous idea for these august people, whose statues are placed all around London, to suddenly come to life, to actually hear their story and I’m so pleased to do it with Rowland Hill, one of my heroes as a former postman.” - Alan Johnson