Richard Southwell Bourke, KP, GMSI, PC (1822-1872) was born in Dublin on 21 February 1822, the eldest son of Robert Bourke, 5th Earl of Mayo. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was successively MP for Kildare from 1847, Coleraine from 1852 and Cockermouth from 1857 to 1868.

He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1852 to 1868, and in 1869 was appointed Viceroy of India. On 8 February 1872 he was inspecting a convict settelement in the Andaman Islands when he was assassinated with a knife by Sher Ali, a convict.

Today his statue stands in the centre of the main street of Cockermouth; the cost of the statue, unveiled in 1875, had been raised by public subscription.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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