William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson

William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson (3 July 1840 – 1 June 1911) was an English army officer and campaigner for animal welfare. He was a notable supporter of the Humanitarian League. After his death, he was memorialised by a statue in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Life and work

Coulson was a member of a landowning Northumberland family, most of whose country estates were sold in 1876 to Edward Joicey. Between 1877 and 1880, he had Blenkinsopp Castle, a disused property dating originally to the 14th-century, renovated in the Victorian style. Blenkinsopp Castle was later sold to Joicey. For some years, he owned and resided at the nearby Blenkinsop Hall estate. Described by Henry S. Salt as "one of the first men of standing who lent their support to the Humanitarian League", he chaired its first public meeting. Coulson visited schools throughout England, lecturing about the importance of kindness to animals.

In the 1890s, he participated in the Humanitarian League's campaign against otter hunting, which he characterised as "a brutal, demoralizing amusement". He wrote letters on the subject to local, regional and national newspapers and contributed an article on "The Otter-Worry" to a Humanitarian League pamphlet about blood sports.

The memorial consists of a double life size bronze portrait bust of Coulson on a concrete and stone pedestal which in turn stands on a pink granite base with drinking troughs - one for cattle and horses and the other for dogs - at the front and back. The bronze bust was sculpted by Arnold Rechberg and cast by the Rudier Foundry in France. –1911. Erected by public subscription in memory of his efforts to assist the weak and defenceless among mankind and in the animal world." On the back of the pedestal is inscribed a quotation from Coulson:What is really needed is an all round education in the higher impulses, true manliness and womanliness, justice and pity. To try to promote this has been my humble but earnest endeavour and until they are more generally aroused the legislature is useless, for it is the people who make the laws. W.L.B.C