Description: Named after General Sir Charles Napier 1782-1853. He served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. Stationed (1822-30) on the Greek island of Cephalonia, he became acquainted with Lord Byron and was asked, although he declined, to command the Greek independence forces. He was Commander in Chief of troops in the north of England between 1839 and 1841, which was the period of the first violent outbreak of Chartism. Napier was a down-to-earth man with a well-developed social conscience; he had little sympathy with politicians whatever their party but he did have a great deal of sympathy with the poor in the north. He wrote an account which tells of the mayor and gentry of Nottingham helping the poor, many of which were Chartists, to subvert the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act by raising a public subscription (in it he recognised the hatred of those in need of welfare relief of the 'new' system, which would force them into The Workhouse. The public subscription would give money directly to those in need.).In 1841 Napier went to India, where he undertook the conquest (1843) of Sind. He served as governor of Sind until 1847. (Information extracted from Sir William Napier's, 'Life of General Sir Charles James Napier (1857, II, 111-133). The sign shows him here erroneously portrayed on board ship in a naval uniform !