General Don Monument

The monument to Sir George Don, GCB, GCH (1756-1832) stands on a high pedestal in the garden called the Parade, the statue made in cast iron, showing him with a roll in his hands.  On either side of him are the seated figures of Ceres, the Greek goddess of agriculture as a symbol of prosperity that Don brought to Jersey, and Mercury, the messenger of the gods, to highlight Don’s road-building programme on the island.   The statue was designed by Pierre Robinet (1811-78) and made by A. Durenne of Paris in 1885.

 General Don was born in Edinburgh, the son of a merchant.  He joined the army, served in Menorca.  He was an important figure in the seven-month siege of Fort St Philip in the American Revolutionary War.  He was posted to Gibraltar and then transferred to Jersey, working on the island’s defences.  He was in the service of the King of Prussia and later engaged in defending the Isle of Wight.  In 1806 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey, a post he held throughout the Napoleonic wars.  He was promoted Governor of Gibraltar in 1814, where he died in 1832.