However, the statue was originally located on the other side of Bathurst Street at the site of the first battery in Launceston behind the museum, facing the bowling green and tennis courts, overlooking the river.

Edward VII was the heir apparent for 59 years, and upon his death on May 6, 1910, he had spent just eight years on the throne.

One month later, the King Edward Statue Fund committee was formed to build a suitable memorial for their beloved king.

But it took eight-and-a-half years before the statue was erected. Emma Styant Browne led the fundraising campaign.

The foundation stone was laid with a silver trowel and blackwood mallet on June 8, 1912 by Lt Gen Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts Association. On that day, he also declared that the Depot Grounds were now named ‘The Royal Park’.

Alfred Drury, a well-known London sculptor, submitted his design of King Edward’s statue to Birmingham, England, for £1,000, but offered it to Launceston for £700.

Then the war broke out in 1914, and Drury said he would complete the work for £500.

That offer was accepted, and the sculpture was shipped from England on the Rangatira. But, the ship was wrecked on Robben Island, South Africa in April 1916.

Emma Styant Browne and her committee were relieved when the statue finally arrived in Hobart on the Waiwera in July 1916.

However, because of the war, fundraising was slow, and the statue languished in the Corporation storerooms for two-and-a-half years before there was enough money to build the pedestal and erect the statue.

In May 1918, it was hoped that renewed fundraising efforts ‘would meet with a hearty and liberal response, and that within a short time the memorial to Edward the Peacemaker would stand where all might see it, a tribute to the Sovereign to whom we owed our alliance with the nations now fighting so bravely in the cause of freedom’.

The patriotic plea was answered and in September Hinman, Wright and Manser were awarded the tender to erect the pedestal and the statue.

Finally, it was unveiled with much pomp and ceremony on December 9, 1918 by the Governor Sir Francis Newdegate.

Emma would have been delighted that her ‘crowning feature’ of Royal Park was at last in its place. That is, until the road was built, and the statue was moved to its present location.