A hotel in Bristol city centre, where Poland’s national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko once stayed, will soon feature a commemorative plaque marking his visit 226 years ago.
Tadeusz Kościuszko may not be a familiar name to many in Bristol today, but he is celebrated as a national hero in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, and the USA. He was one of the most renowned figures globally when he visited Bristol in 1797, staying at the White Lion Inn on Broad Street for six days while awaiting a ship to take him to America.
To commemorate his brief but significant stay in Bristol in June 1797, the Anglo-Polish Society has obtained permission to place a round plaque in the white and red colours of the Polish flag on the building where Kościuszko stayed. Special permission was required from Bristol City Council because the White Lion is now the Mercure Grand Hotel, a listed building.
The plaque, prominently positioned on the west corner of the hotel, describes Kościuszko as a “Polish freedom fighter, campaigner for equality, and the abolition of slavery” and includes a quote from his close friend Thomas Jefferson, who called him “the purest son of liberty I have ever known”.
Kościuszko spent his life fighting the major European powers (Russians, Austrians, and Prussians) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to establish a free and independent Poland. He fled occupied Poland as a young man. He gained renown after travelling to North America in 1776 to join the Continental Army in the fight for US independence from Britain, becoming an American hero after the long seven-year war.
Returning to Europe in 1784, he led the Polish army in an attempt to repel a Russian invasion before escaping to France in the mid-1790s. He later returned to lead a notable uprising against Russian occupation in 1794. By 1797, Kościuszko wished to return to the US and came to England, including a stop in Bristol, for the journey. His six-day stay in Bristol was eventful, as he was a vocal opponent of the slave trade and an advocate for social justice and the rights of ordinary people.
The plaque mentioned above will be unveiled on 11 June on the building at the corner of Broad Street and Newmarket Avenue, which today houses the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel and was once the location of the White Lion Inn where Kościuszko stayed. The plaque will be unveiled, among others, by the Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London and the Lord Lieutenant of the City and County of Bristol, Mrs Peaches Golding OBE, in the presence of local British and Polish dignitaries.
Image: Mercure Grand Hotel and Britannica
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
From the editor: The unveiling celebration will take place on Tuesday, 11 June at 2.30pm on the Mercure Grand Hotel (previous White Lion) at the intersection of Broad Street and Newmarket Avenue.
