´óÏó´«Ã½

Ed Vaizey's choice
Colonel Loyd-Lindsay (later Lord Wantage of Lockinge) was instrumental in the formation of the British Red Cross. Having witnessed the horrors of the battle field as a soldier in the Crimean war, he had great concern for soldiers of the Franco-Prussian war. In a letter to The Times in 1870 he proposed that Britain create a neutral and impartial aid organisation to help the wounded soldiers on both sides of the France-Prussian war.

The following campaign saw the beginning of the Red Cross movement in Britain which raised a staggering £250,000, (the equivalent of £11,425,000 today) by the end of the Franco-Prussian war. The Red Cross continues to help people in crisis and war all over the world regardless of race, nationality or religion.

This bronze bust of Lord Wantage was sculpted by Sir J.E.Boehm and presented to the town by Lady Wantage. Truly an inspirational and philanthropic man, his many achievements include begin one of the first men to receive the Victoria Cross for two separate acts of Valour, operating and developing a model estate village in Ardington and commissioning and erecting King Alfred's statue that stands proudly in Wantage market place