John Greenshields

John Greenshields (28 September 1795 – 24 April 1835) was a talented but short-lived Scottish sculptor. His most notable works are probably the statue of Sir Walter Scott in Parliament House, Edinburgh,[1] The Scott Monument in Glasgow and the statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie on the Glenfinnan Monument. He also created a series of works depicting scenes from the works of Robert Burns.

Scott Monument, Glasgow
The Glenfinnan Monument
Hamilton Palace

Professor John Wilson referred to him as “an original genius” in his work Noctes Ambrosianae.[2]

Life

He was born in Lesmahagow on 28 September 1795, the eldest of six sons (five surviving) to James Greenshields (1754-1838) a farmer,[3] and his wife, Betty Jack. In early life they moved to Willans, a cottage in Carluke[4] near Crossford, South Lanarkshire, and in Crossford Greenshields first became an apprentice masonic sculptor, under a Mr Cadzow.[5]

Around 1822 he went to Edinburgh to act as an assistant sculptor to Robert Forrest. Here he met Sir Walter Scott who became his artistic patron and friend.[6] Scott described Greenshields as a sensible, powerfully-minded person[7] and also there is much about that man that reminds me of Burns. During this period he lived in a cottage on the Milton estate of Scott's friend, William Lockhart.

From around 1829 he returned to work from Willans and Scott visited him there at least twice,[5] the second in the company of John Gibson Lockhart.

He died at Willans on 24 April 1835 and was buried in Lesmahagow churchyard.

Principal works

References
  1. Parliament House, The Hidden Gem
  2. rc. "CPHS Website".
  3. The Kilmarnock Standard, 8 October 1932
  4. "Lanarkshire OS Name Books, 1858–1861". Scotland's Places. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. Webmaster, Tim Gardner -. "John Greenshields (1792-1835), sculptor, a biography".
  6. "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Greenshields One Name Study and their Kin".
  7. The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, 18 January 1829
  8. "The Scottish American History Cl".
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "The jolly beggars : a cantata. - National Library of Scotland".
  11. Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, vol4
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