ONE of the country’s most remarkable statesmen is getting a smart new look on the eve of the centenary of his death.

A statue of the 1st Marquess of Ripon has stood in Ripon’s Spa Gardens since 1921 and now local contractor Andrew Spedding is giving it a wash-and-brush-up.

The clean-up is in time for ceremonies to mark the Marquess’s death on July 9 at 7pm when local dignitaries will join some of his descendants and the public to pay tribute to his career.

Born in 10 Downing Street in 1827, when his father was briefly Prime Minister, George Frederick Robinson was known for most of his adult life as Earl de Grey.

He became a minister in the War Office under Palmerston and worked closely with Florence Nightingale to improve the conditions of the common soldier. He was Secretary of State for India in 1866.

In 1871 he averted a war with the United States. The Americans believed Britain had breached guarantees of neutrality by giving hospitality in British ports to Confederate warships during the American Civil War.

Only Earl de Grey's skill and charm persuaded the American negotiator of Britain’s good standing. As a result of his work, he was created the 1st Marquess of Ripon.

In 1880 Gladstone made him Viceroy of India - and there are exact copies of the Ripon statue in Chennai and Kolkata and a town named after the Marquess, Riponpet in Karnataka.

In 1905, aged 75, he became Lord Privy Seal and leader of the Liberals in the Lords. He retired in 1908, and died the following year.

At next month's ceremonies Ripon City Band will play from the nearby bandstand and afterwards Richard Compton of Newby Hall, a descendent of the Marquess’s family, will give a talk in the Spa Hotel about his life and career.