Paul Raphael Montford

Paul Raphael Montford (1 November 1868 – 15 January 1938) was an English-born sculptor, also active in Australia; winner of the gold medal of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1934.

Montford was born in Kentish Town, London, the son of Horace Montford, a sculptor, and his wife Sarah Elizabeth, née Lewis. Horace Montford won a gold medal at the Royal Academy schools in 1869. Paul learned modelling from his father and later studied at the Royal Academy schools and was considered a brilliant student. Montford won the gold medal and travelling scholarship for sculpture in 1891 and for many years after was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy exhibitions. Among his larger works in Great Britain are: four groups on the Kelvin bridge,Glasgow; groups for the city hill, Cardiff; a statue of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman at Stirling; the statues of Alfred Beit and Julius Wernher at the entrance to the Royal School of Mines, London; and the two sculptures on Croydon Cenotaph. Montford married Marian Alice Dibdin (daughter of W. J. Dibdin) a capable oil-painter, on 11 September 1912.

Sculpting commissions in England were scarce after World War I, so Montford decided to go to Australia in 1923 believing the light would be favourable to sculpture. He had difficulty in getting commissions and taught at the Gordon Technical College in Geelong, Victoria, and in July 1924 exhibited at the Geelong Art Gallery. When Charles Web Gilbert died in 1925, Montford was asked to complete the design for the memorial at Port Said; but there were difficulties in carrying out the work in Australia, and eventually it was given to Sir Bertram Mackennal in London. The winning of the competition for the sculpture for the Shrine of Remembrance at Melbourne gave Montford many years of work. He designed and modeled the four groups each 23 feet (7 m) high, and the two tympani each 56 feet (17 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) high in the centre.

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