People like Us

Life size sculpture in brass by John Clinch (1993) situated on the harbour's edge (now Mermaid Quay) in Tiger Bay (now Cardiff Bay) and commemorating the lively mutli-cultural community that once co-existed nearby (i.e. before the demolition of Loudon Square and relocation of many families, and where an aunt of my father's lived, married to a Portugese Goan merchant seaman, called ?Aveira, who by all accounts was a gent and a bit of a hero during the war, but to their shame, excluded by the rest of the family). My father worked nearby for a while as a young boy straight from school (no qualifications) as a runner for a shipping office (or shipping insurance agent?, Sir ?James German), within sight of the Pierhead Building. Another uncle and my maternal grandfather worked nearby for stationers Edward Roberts, who supplied the many banks, offices and the Exchange, where the world's first £1m cheque was written.